GIFT  or 


r 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

By  ANNIE  RIX  MILITZ 


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Child  Unfoldment 


INSTRUCTION  IN  THE  WAY  TO 

TRAIN  CHILDREN  THROUGH 

THE  SILENT  INFLUENCE 

OF  THOUGHT 

BY 

ANNIE  RIX  MILITZ 


t 


Published  by 

THE  MASTEPv  MIND  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

Los  Angeles,  Cal. 

1916 


Copyright,  1916,  by 
The  Master  Mind  Publishing  Ca 


PREFACE 


^ii  N   these   days  of   spiritual   psychology,   new 
A\    powers  are  being  revealed  by  which  to  teach 


1 

/-^y  and  train  natures,  that  have  not  been  amen- 
(^  able  to  mere  external  methods.  Furthermore 
it  has  been  found  that  the  education  of  the 
thoughts  and  feelings  is  the  best  way  to  bring  the 
external  child  to  its  highest  culture. 

The  following  teachings  are  from  the  experience, 
as  well  as  the  deep  spiritual  conviction,  of  many 
besides  the  writer,  who  have  proven  that  "the  mind 
makes  the  man"  and  that  as  Socrates  said,  "If  you 
would  have  children  act  aright,  you  must  teach  them 
to  form  correct  judgments." 

May  the  good  Reader  be  able  to  profit  by  these 
writings,  through  the  sure  testimony  of  three 
witnesses:  the  Spirit,  the  Intellect  and  the  Senses. 
May  what  has  been  written  from  the  Spirit  be  read 
by  the  Spirit  within  you,  that  which  is  given  from 
the  Intellect  be  found  reasonable,  and  that  which 
Sense  has  experienced  be  demonstrated  to  your 
senses. 

And  may  many  children  bless  the  day  that  this 
little  book  saw  the  light. 


The  Author 


Los  Angeles, 
Thanksgiving  Day,  1916. 


360756 


'.  -^     ^  •»o'  )      1  •.  ■* 


"THINE  THEY  WERE" 

"And  thou  gavest  them  me." — John  17:6. 

The  mother  thinks 
The  child  is  hers, 

And  so,  at  times,  is  almost  overwhelmed 
With  that  responsibility. 
The  child,  in  fact, 
Is  not  her  own. 
But  God's— 

And  she  is  just  the  instrument 
Which  God  has  used 
To  manifest  in  human  form 
Another  bit  of  His  Omniscient  Mind. 
— Louise  Mayers  Meredith, 

from  Mother's  Magazine, 


I. 

The  Holy  Family 

Beyond  Nature  to  Nature's  God 
HE  Path  of  Immortal  Life  leads  through 
Nature  to  Nature's  God.  Every  step  is  a 
transcending  of  the  natural  ways.  Yet 
the  Christ-method  does  no  violence  to 
natural  law  while  bearing  us  above  it  into 
the  great  Law  of  the  Spirit,  wherein  is  eternal  and 
unlimited  peace  and  joy. 

The  virtue  of  Nature  is  its  simplicity,  innocence 
and  freedom.  These  are  negative  in  character  and 
therefore  incomplete.  Not  until  the  positive  princi- 
ples of  Spirit  have  supplemented  these  beauties  of 
Nature,  does  the  perfect  Eden  again  appear.  There 
is  no  going  ''back  to  Nature"  on  the  part  of  man  to 
find  the  ideal  life — as  well  might  he  expect  to  return 
to  the  seed  whence  his  body  developed.  We  shall  be 
truly  natural,  and  joy  in  primeval  life  again,  as  we 
find  Nature  in  God. 

Procreation  Ascending 
The  relationships  among  the  lower  orders  of  ani- 
mal life  are,  at  first,  regardless  of  the  welfare  of 
offspring,  but  as  the  Spirit  presses  more  and  more 
upon  the  animal  world,  intelligence  increases,  affec- 
tion develops,  order,  harmony  and  wise  selection  and 
preservation  are  more  and  more  in  evidence,  until 
the  greatest  touch  of  the  Spirit  upon  the  natural 
institution — ^the  marriage  evolved  by  man — gives  us 
the  ideal  Family,  one  father,  one  mother  and  their 
children,  living  in  highest  consciousness  of  the  Divin- 
ity in  each  and  all. 

5 


6  CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

The  father  and  mother  who  have  come  together 
under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  whose 
child,  in  their  sight,  can  be  described  as  the  Angel 
Gabriel  foretold  of  Jesus,  **that  holy  thing  which 
shall  be  born  of  thee  shall  be  called  the  Son  of  God,*' 
form  the  Blessed  Trinity  on  earth,  the  Holy  Family. 

The  Marriage  Within 

We  know  in  Truth,  that  the  highest  state  of  human 
perfection  is  that  of  Christ  Jesus,  who  had  the  divine 
marriage  within  him,  and  did  not  need  the  form  in 
the  outer  to  realize  the  bliss  of  the  highest  union, 
oneness  with  God.  Yet,  for  those,  whose  perception 
of  this  Christ-celibacy  is  without  joy,  or  not  possible 
of  attainment  to  them,  there  is  an  ideal  of  home,  mar- 
riage and  the  family  life  that,  developed  under  the 
Christ,  will  lead  on  to  the  heights  "of  the  mark  of  the 
prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus." 

Finding  ourselves  in  the  family  life, — husbands, 
wives  and  parents, — let  us  work  out  the  ideal,  where 
we  are,  and  fill  up  the  measure  of  the  charge  that  is 
upon  us,  thus  being  faithful  over  the  lesser  things 
("the  lower  nature")  we  "shall  be  made  rulers  over 
the  great  things"  (the  treasures  of  heaven). 

The  Way  of  Holiness  (Is.  35  :8)  for  the  Family  is, 
that  each  member  should  seek  the  union  with  God, 
making  the  One  our  ideal,  our  love, — even  beyond 
any  earthly  love  for  the  dearest  mate  or  child.  Then 
the  earthly  father  will  embody  the  Fatherhood  of 
God  in  all  its  Wisdom  and  Universality;  the  earthly 
mother  will  be  the  Divine  Mother  of  all;  the  child 
will  prove  the  Ideal  Offspring,  the  joy  of  its  parents 
and  a  glory  to  its  Supreme  Parent.  Where  such  a 
company  gathers,  we  shall  find 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  7 

The  Ideal  Home 

Heaven  is  our  true  home,  and  heaven  is  within 
each  one  of  us,  therefore  the  ideal  home  is  found 
there  first.  Every  one  is  desiring  a  home,  a  true 
place  of  rest  and  harmony,  peace  and  beauty.  It  is 
right  for  us  to  desire  this  home,  and  we  find  it  in 
Truth  as  we  find  it  first  in  Spirit.  Ours  is  the  wor- 
ship that  is  in  Spirit  and  in  Truth,  the  inner  and  the 
outer  Reality.  We  find  home  in  the  outer  when  we 
find  home  in  the  inner. 

The  greater  part  of  humanity  has  been  seeking 
without  before  they  have  turned  within,  resulting  in 
disappointment,  hands  full  of  things,  possessions  on 
one's  back,  inharmony,  "ideals"  that  have  become 
idols,  shattered  and  homeless,  all  because  of  seeking 
this  home  without  instead  of  within. 

"Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  all  the 
things  after  which  the  nations  seek  shall  be  added." 
First  find  the  place  of  Harmony  within  you,  within 
yourselves,  and  then  you  will  find  it  and  make  it 
wherever  you  are.  This  has  been  the  glorious  dem- 
onstration of  womanhood.  Let  the  woman  in  you 
come  forth,  and  the  deserts  shall  blossom  as  the  rose 
and  the  slums  shall  be  as  palaces.  The  home  can  be 
made  a  most  glorious  center,  where  things  gather 
and  express  themselves  in  purity,  beauty,  comfort 
and  harmony. 

While  the  mother  is  the  standard  about  which  the 
home  crystallizes,  and  she  gives  it  its  principal  char- 
acter, yet  every  member  of  the  household  should  be 
embued  with  the  spirit  of  true  home-making.  This 
means  unselfishness,  self-control,  harmony,  obedience 
and  freedom.     These  are  inculcated  by  the  radiance 


S  CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

of  love  from  the  dominant  mentality  of  the  family, 
which  is  usually  the  mother ;  and  by  the  silent  invoca- 
tion of  the  best  in  each  (because  of  trust  in  the  God- 
self)  supplemented  by  the  spoken  Word,  v^hen  it  will 
fit  in  most  effectually. 

It  takes  the  genius  of  a  General  to  found  and  sus- 
tain a  real  home,  and  combined  with  it  must  be  the 
inspiration  of  a  changeless  Lover,  whose  patience, 
tact  and  wisdom  never  fail.  Yet  all  these  are  within 
the  endowment  of  God  to  every  one  of  us.  And 
whoever  exercises  his  genius  to  make  an  ideal  home 
is  working  towards  the  establishment  of  heaven  here 
on  the  earth. 

The  True  Marriage 

Taken  out  of  its  false  aspect  in  the  human  regard, 
which  is  often  light  and  contemptuous  and,  again, 
merely  curious  or  mercenary,  marriage  can  be 
returned  to  its  original  holy  place,  a  sacrament. 
Trusting  this  union  to  God,  the  great  Good  of  each, 
men  and  women  will  cease  to  scheme  and  fear;  and 
thus,  mismating  through  false  motives  and  misunder- 
standings will  grow  less,  and  * 'those  whom  God  hath 
joined"  man  cannot  keep  asunder. 

Every  one  who  contemplates  marriage  should  lift 
it  to  the  highest  place,  as  the  symbol  of  the  union 
with  God.  Then  the  man  will  be  seen  as  the  Lord, 
and  all  deference  will  be  accorded  him  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  God's  fatherhood,  the  Spirit  that  ever 
moves  upon  the  face  of  the  deep,  calling  forth  its 
manifestation. 

Though  the  human  husband  may  not  seem  worthy 
of  such  deference,  if  the  wife  will  honor  him  as  God, 
either  he  will  change  and  the  ideal  Self  come  forward, 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  9 

or  he  will  be  removed  from  her  life,  not  necessarily 
by  death  or  divorce,  but  in  some  way  that  is  happy 
for  both. 

The  woman  in  marriage  is  the  Soul,  the  bride  of 
God,  which  if  a  man  will  receive  and  revere  as  God's 
own  presence,  will  open  him  to  the  Holy  Spirit  within 
himself.  And  if  the  wife  seem  not  worthy,  this  true 
attitude  of  the  husband  will  result  the  same  as  in  the 
case  of  the  husband,  described  above. 

The  child  that  blesses  the  union  is  ever  the  Christ, 
the  Word  of  God,  come  into  the  world  to  bless  it  and 
bring  it  back  to  its  Eden  and  oneness  with  God. 

In  the  harmonious  and  perfect  unfoldment  of  the 
child,  nothing  is  so  important  as  these  first  thoughts 
about  its  parentage.  Though  all  manner  of  per- 
verted ideas  have  hampered  its  orderly  growth,  yet 
now  these  can  be  corrected,  even  by  one  parent  hold- 
ing to  the  Highest.  "And  one  shall  save  a  city."  For 
no  one  who  works  by  God's  law,  works  alone.  For 
it  is  God  that  accomplishes  His  own  glorious  inten- 
tions with  our  children,  for  they  are  His  children 
before  they  are  ours. 

The  Ideal  Father 

It  is  an  earthly  father's  privilege  to  portray  the 
heavenly  Father  in  every  department  of  his  life. 
There  is  much  to  be  corrected  in  the  old  view  of 
God's  fatherhood,  that  of  an  austere,  superior,  even 
overbearing,  punishing  father.  This  view  came  from 
the  belief  of  the  Father  as  quite  separate  from  the 
Mother.  But  in  Christ,  the  two  are  one  and  so 
identified  are  they  that  their  spiritual  offices  are 
interchangeable  and  the  Father,  though  strong  and 
protecting,  is  tender  and  kind,  though  just  and  firm, 


10  CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

is  merciful  and  sympathetic.  The  marvelous  teach- 
ing of  Jesus  Christ  about  God,  as  our  eternally  for- 
giving, heavenly  Father,  has  destroyed  to  the  true 
Christian,  the  delusion  of  an  ever-angry  God  filling 
his  cowering  subjects  with  terror  and  secret  hatred. 

The  parable  of  *'The  Prodigal  Son,"  epitomized  the 
Christ-idea  of  the  true  Father  which  God  is,  ever 
waiting  for  the  true  Self  in  His  children  to  come 
forth  and  give  Him  opportunity  to  pour  forth  His 
favors. 

The  dignity  of  God-patience,  the  nobility  of  faith- 
ful service,  the  love  of  boon  companionship — these 
are  some  of  the  glorious  lessons  embodied  in  the  olfice 
of  a  true  father,  which  he  can  pass  on  to  his  children. 
They  can  easily  learn  to  revere  God  through  the  daily 
exemplar  of  His  presence  before  their  eyes. 

The  Madonna  Mother 

To  receive  your  children  as  from  God,  each  one 
holy,  an  immortal  soul,  sent  of  God  to  bring  heaven 
to  human  beings,  is  to  have  the  mind  of  Mary,  the 
virgin  Mother  of  Man.  This  motherhood  is  the 
coming  to  light  of  the  universal  Mother-God,  which 
dwells  within  us  all,  one  with  the  Father  and  partak- 
ing of  both  natures,  loving  but  not  weak  nor  partial, 
nourishing  and  providing,  the  wise  Counsellor  whose 
eternal  sympathy  guides  ever  upward,  never  compro- 
mising with  the  untrue  self,  yet  without  condemna- 
tion. 

As  parents  regard  each  other,  so  will  the  children 
incline,  therefore  keep  the  Ideal  ever  before  your  eyes 
and  never  call  attention  to  each  other's  shortcomings. 
Again,  as  you  would  have  your  mate  regard  yourself, 
so  conduct  yourself  towards  him  or  her.     Children 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  11 

have  a  keen  sense  of  justice,  and  injustice  on  the 
part  of  a  parent  lessens  that  one's  influence.  Let 
your  justice  exceed  that  which  is  of  the  world,  let  it 
ever  look  through  things  to  the  One,  who  is  ever  in 
the  right. 

Spiritual  Eugenics 

It  is  the  eternal  right  of  every  child  to  be  well-born. 
The  race  conscience  is  waking  to  this  Truth,  hence 
the  foundation  of  the  new  culture  of  Eugenics,  which 
means  the  art  and  science  of  being  well  born.  But 
the  founders  are  laying  a  false  base  for  their  build- 
ing, that  of  material  causation,  and,  "except  the  Lord 
build  the  house,  they  labor  in  vain  that  build  it." 

It  is  not  a  matter  of  flesh  and  blood  that  is  the  key 
to  good  birth,  but  of  true  thought  and  spiritual  train- 
ing. Though  the  bodies  of  parents  be  under  physical 
curses,  yet  if  their  minds  be  renewed,  not  only  will 
their  own  bodies  be  transformed  but  their  new  minds 
will  bless  the  bodies  of  their  unborn  children. 

The  true  laws,  that  shall  mate  worthy  parents,  are 
spiritual,  not  material  or  sentimental.  Love  is  truly 
the  greatest  cause  of  marriage — Soul-love,  not  the 
mere  fascination  of  body-attraction  which  is  often 
engendered,  as  upon  the  animal  plane,  by  the  hunger 
for  birth  of  the  waiting  creatures.  The  appetites  of 
all  three,  man,  woman  and  the  invisible,  and  as  yet 
unconceived,  child,  rush  to  a  vortex,  because  none  of 
the  three  knows  how  to  wait  for  Soul-guidance,  and 
they  are  caught  in  the  maelstrom  of  their  unregen- 
erate  desires,  and  a  passing  fancy,  perhaps  the  result 
of  mere  propinquity,  precipitates  a  union  most  unfit 
and  disastrous. 

Eugenics  to  be  a  successful  science  must  reckon 


12  CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

with  the  supreme  Father-Mother  and  also  acknowl- 
edge the  pre-existence  of  the  child  as  Soul,  ancient 
and  great,  intelligent  and  powerful  as  any  that  ever 
embodied  upon  this  earth. 

When  parenthood  is  taken  as  a  charge  from  God, 
then  the  office  of  generating  is  lifted  into  a  pure  and 
holy  expression,  and,  in  place  of  shame,  comes 
delicacy  and  temperance;  in  place  of  secrecy  and 
ignorance,  come  the  sense  of  sacredness  and  mystery 
and  the  soul-communion  that  is  perfect  under- 
standing. 

The  Discipline  of  Marriage 

Even  the  most  ideal  human  union  carries  an  ele- 
ment of  discipline  with  it.  For,  close  association  with 
any  one  makes  that  one  an  instrument  to  polish  us, 
"diamond  cut  diamond."  If  the  experiences  of  mar- 
riage, that  have  been  trials  and  humiliations,  will  but 
be  received  as  a  God-means  of  refining  or  strength- 
ening or  transmuting  our  character  into  more  worthi- 
ness for  the  companionship  of  angels,  we  shall  always 
get  the  blessing  out  of  the  companionship,  and  a 
minimum  of  suffering. 

God  dwells  within  every  human  being  and  the  ideal 
can  be  uncovered,  even  in  the  worst,  by  God-love 
working  through  the  heart  of  another  human  being. 
The  family  was  formed  and  hallowed  for  this  purpose 
and  to  this  end,  and  the  fact,  that  the  door  of  life  was 
opened  to  let  a  soul  into  this  earth,  is  a  sign  that  such 
is  a  candidate  for  the  honor  of  Perfection.  As  long 
as  a  human  being  lives  on  this  earth,  there  is  a  chance 
here  for  redemption,  and  each  soul  committed  to  our 
charge  is  a  glorious  opportunity  to  prove  the  immor- 
tal and  heavenly  presence  of  God  in  that  flesh. 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  13 

Let  each  husband  reverence  and  exalt  his  wife  to 
the  highest  place  that  he  can  give  her  in  his  ideals  of 
the  Perfect  Woman  which  is  the  divine  feminine  of 
God. 

And  let  every  woman  have  a  holy  respect  for  her 
husband,  and  hold  faithfully  to  the  ideal,  as  the  real 
of  him,  seeing  the  One,  that  surely  abides  there, 
which  is  the  divine  masculine  of  God. 

And  let  every  child  revere  and  honor  his  parents, 
as  the  embodiment  of  his  Father-Mother,  God. 

So  shall  the  Holy  Family  be  again  manifest  on 
earth,  and  its  home  "a  little  heaven"  here  below. 


II. 
The  Prospective  Mother 

Motherhood,  a  Sacred  Office 
HILD  unfoldment  means  mother  unfold- 
ment,  the  two  taking  place  simultaneously 
when  all  things  proceed  in  an  orderly  way. 
And  one  of  the  first  instructions,  which  a 
mother  should  receive  from  her  Divine 
Self,  is  as  to  the  greatness  and  holiness  of  her  posi- 
tion. Called  to  take  charge  of  an  immortal  Soul,  on 
its  way  proving  its  Godhood !  What  more  honorable 
trust  in  God's  world  ? 

Motherhood  is  the  expression  of  the  protecting, 
nourishing,  loving,  creating  power  of  God,  which  is 
without  beginning  and  without  end,  eternal,  divine 
Motherhood,  the  tender,  loving,  forgiving,  excusing, 
protecting  Spirit,  that  omits  no  measures  for  the 
salvation  of  its  children,  "loving  to  the  end,"  until  the 
beloved  shall  come  to  its  place,  and  be  what  it  was 
in  the  beginning. 

It  is  because  God  is  the  Great  Mother  that  we 
believe  in  universal  salvation — even  of  those  who 
seem  to  be  the  lowest  and  farthest  from  the  Kingdom. 
Though  the  mother  of  the  earth  "may  forsake  her 
children,  yet  I  will  not  forsake  thee,"  says  our 
Mother-God.  The  perfect  love  of  the  human  mother 
cannot  touch  the  hem  of  the  garment  of  the  love  of 
God,  which  knows  nothing  impossible,  and  never 
fails  in  its  desires  for  the  salvation  of  its  beloved 
children. 

14 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  15 

National  Respect  for  Mothers 

It  is  a  sign  of  the  spiritual  unfoldment  of  nations, 
to  have  a  respect  for  woman  and  especially  for  moth- 
erhood. The  recognition  of  the  Divine  Feminine  in 
God  hallows  womanhood  and,  through  her,  the  child 
that  she  gives  to  the  world. 

Every  prospective  mother  should  receive  a  blessing 
from  every  one  that  beholds  her,  a  prayer  for  her 
safety  when  passing  through  the  ordeal  that  lies 
before  her,  and  the  tenderest  and  holiest  considera- 
tion for  the  little  one  that  has  been  sent  of  God  to 
manifest  through  her. 

National  consideration  for  the  welfare  of  mothers 
is  becoming  more  evident  daily,  for  motherhood  is  a 
national  benefaction.  This  is  instanced  in  the  pro- 
visions that  are  made  to  relieve  her  cares  in  rearing 
her  babes:  the  summer  nurseries,  the  free  dispen- 
saries, examinations,  lectures,  food  to  lessen  infantile 
mortality.  And  it  will  not  be  long  before  Mothers' 
Pensions  will  be  in  every  advanced  government.  It 
is  not  too  much  for  any  State  to  provide  pensions  for 
this  office,  that  is  greater  than  that  of  any  soldier  in 
the  land,  for  the  mother  is  constructive  and  the 
soldier  is  destructive.  She  contributes  to  life  and 
the  soldier  takes  life.  Therefore,  if  the  soldiers 
should  be  pensioned,  mothers  should  have  a  greater 
pension. 

Unwilling  Mothers 

We  know  that  there  are  many  unwilling  mothers 
as  there  are  many  unwilling  soldiers  and  for  the 
same  reason,  for  it  is  fear  at  the  root,  that  is  the 
cause  of  this  unwillingness,  and  selfishness.  Almost 
every  normal  woman  has  maternal  love  and  the  child 
is  the  outpicturing  of  this  love  in  her.     Fortunately, 


16  CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

the  new  light  upon  Christ-healing  and  deliverance 
from  the  old  curse  of  painful  child-bearing  is  rapidly- 
removing  that  fear.  And  there  is  no  v^oman  in  the 
Truth  v^ho  expects  to  enter  into  marriage  who  should 
refuse  motherhood  on  account  of  such  fears. 

We  have  learned  that  the  function  of  the  uterus 
should  be  as  harmonious  and  painless  as  any  other 
large  muscle  of  the  body,  and  all  the  re-adjustments 
of  the  organs,  necessary  to  permit  this  office  to  be 
fulfilled,  should  be  as  normal  and  easy,  as  in  the  per- 
formance of  any  other  duty. 

Mothers  in  Truth  are  the  best  custodians  for  those 
seeking  to  come  into  this  world,  and  no  more  useful 
career  upon  the  material  plane  can  be  planned,  than 
to  be  a  "mother  in  Israel,"  receiving  as  many  little 
ones  from  God  as  possible,  and  bringing  them  up  in 
the  knowledge  of  Truth  and  to  live  the  life  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

A  word  here  for  those  women  who  long  for  chil- 
dren but  who  do  not  have  them.  Consecrate  your- 
selves and  your  lives  to  God,  trusting  all  to  God  and, 
like  Sarah  and  Hannah  of  old,  you  shall  become  the 
mother  of  one,  who  will  be  a  great  power  for  good 
on  this  earth.  Nevertheless  it  may  be  that  you  are 
finished  with  bringing  forth  after  the  flesh,  and  yours 
must  be  the  life  of  regeneration,  and  your  children, 
spiritual — ^perhaps  thousands,  whom  you  will  bring 
into  the  Truth. 

The  Education  of  Mothers 

Once  Dr.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  was  asked  as  to 
when  a  child's  education  should  begin  and  he  replied, 
in  his  terse  and  witty  way,  that  it  should  '*begin  one 
hundred  years  before  it  was  born."  That  is,  its 
ancestors,  teachers,  nurses  and  all  that  shall  con- 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  17 

tribute  to  its  being,  physical,  mental  or  moral,  should 
be  rightly  trained  in  the  understanding  of  the  laws 
of  life. 

Thus  again  is  the  welfare  of  the  unborn  child 
expressed  in  terms  of  universal  welfare,  and  you 
who  may  be  reading  these  words  with  interest,  even 
though  you  have  no  children,  may  know  that  you  are 
contributing,  by  your  study  of  these  lessons,  to  gen- 
erations that  shall  live  one  hundred  years  hence. 

The  past  we  cannot  touch,  so  let  us  give  all  atten- 
tion to  the  present,  to  the  young  men  and  women 
who  are  looking  forward  to  fatherhood  and  mother- 
hood, even  though  as  yet  unmarried. 

The  spiritually-minded  of  the  two  most  influential, 
religious  races  in  the  world,  the  Hebrews  and  the 
Hindus,  look  upon  parenthood  as  a  sacrament  and 
contemplate  it  as  a  holy  privilege,  and  many  are  the 
prayers  and  other  preparations,  to  receive  the  Soul 
appointed  them  from  God. 

In  the  new  devotees  of  the  true  God,  the  office  is  to 
be  no  less  a  sacred  consciousness.  Before  the  mar- 
riage of  the  two  whose  lives  are  about  to  be  made  one, 
there  should  be  a  clear  understanding  and  agreement, 
to  respect  each  other*s  views  of  the  marital  relation- 
ship and  to  exercise  self-control,  even  as  a  blessing 
with  which  to  endow  their  children. 

For  it  is  not  as  a  heritage  of  the  flesh,  that  one 
passes  spiritual  powers  to  one's  offspring  but  through 
the  power  of  thought  by  which  the  Truth  is  given 
them. 

As  soon  as  a  mother  has  conceived,  she  can  begin 
to  talk  to  the  Soul  of  her  child  and  tell  it  of  its  divine 
origin. 


18  CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

Every  Child  Is  a  Great  Soul 

In  its  true  being,  every  child  is  as  wise  as  the 
wisest  that  ever  lived  on  this  earth.  But  its  wisdom 
is  spiritual,  not  material.  As  Soul,  it  is  as  wise  as 
its  parents  and  if  the  latter  would  learn  to  talk 
silently,  yes,  and  audibly — to  their  children's  Souls, 
they  would  develop  the  most  wonderful  and  charm- 
ing companionship  with  them,  and  their  remarks  and 
conclusions  and  memories  would  often  be  most 
enlightening.  The  wisdom  of  the  parents  as  to  this 
relative  plane — the  knowledge  that  comes  from  expe- 
rience— is  one  of  the  advantages  they  can  give  their 
children;  to  show  them  how  to  express  their  Souls 
through  their  flesh  and  in  their  relationships  with 
their  world  and  its  people. 

But  the  instruction  must  begin  with  a  conscious- 
ness of  oneness.  Soul  with  Soul.  As  a  prospective 
mother  has  many  times  talked  to  herself  so  should 
she  learn  to  talk  to  that  new  self,  so  near  her  heart, 
speaking  to  it  not  as  a  babe,  or  one  who  is  ignorant, 
but  as  the  very  Angel  of  His  Presence  (Matt.  18 :10) . 

As  a  rule,  children  grow  away  from  this  Angel- 
memory  because  of  the  materialism,  sensuality  and 
ignorance  of  their  instructors.  Parents  can  keep 
the  fleshly  veils  of  their  children  pure  and  transpar- 
ent through  the  years,  and  so  help  them  to  retain 
much  of  their  original  spirituality. 

A  prenatal  course  of  education  in  Truth  can  be 
given  by  a  mother  to  her  coming  child  by  reading  to 
it  some  good  text-book  on  Truth.*    A  lesson  from  the 


*Such  as  Maternity  Treatments  by  Miss  Rix,  10  cts. ; 
Primary  Lessons  in  Christian  Living  and  Healing,  by  Mrs. 
Militz,  paper,  60  cts.;  cloth,  $1.25;  Christian  Mind  Healing,  by 
Miss  Rix,  $1.00. 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  19 

Bible  should  be  read  daily  and  a  silent  treatment  that 
they  may  begin  early  to  exercise  self-control. 
The  Pre-existence  of  Each  Child 

The  Scripture  teaches  us  that  its  prophets  lived 
and  were  intelligent  beings  before  they  were  born, 
and  even  before  they  were  conceived.  No  one,  who 
believes  in  Jesus  Christ,  doubts  that  he  lived  before 
he  came  to  Mary.  "Before  Abraham  was,  I  am,"  he 
said  (John  8:58). 

Jeremiah  the  prophet  says  that  the  Lord  told  him, 
that  before  he  was  conceived.  He  knew  him  and 
ordained  him  to  his  ministry  (Jeremiah  1:5). 

"Before  I  formed  thee  in  the  belly  I  knew  thee;  and  before 
thou  earnest  forth  out  of  the  womb,  I  sanctified  thee  and  I 
ordained  thee  a  prophet  unto  the  nations." 

John  the  Baptist  leaped  in  his  mother's  womb 
when  the  Virgin  Mary  saluted  Elizabeth,  as  we  read, 
Luke  1 :41  to  44 : 

"And  it  came  to  pass,  that,  when  Elizabeth  heard  the 
salutation  of  Mary,  the  babe  leaped  in  her  womb;  and  Eliza- 
beth was  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost; 

And  she  spake  with  a  loud  voice,  and  said,  Blessed  art  thou 
among  women,  and  blessed  is  the  fruit  of  thy  womb. 

And  whence  is  this  to  me,  that  the  mother  of  my  Lord 
should  come  to  me? 

For,  lo,  as  soon  as  the  voice  of  thy  salutation  sounded  in 
mine  ears,  the  babe  leaped  in  my  womb  for  joy." 

And  the  great  King  Solomon  speaks  of  his  own 
pre-existence,  in  the  Apocryphal  Old  Testament 
(Wisdom  of  Solomon  8:20),  "Yea,  rather,  being 
good,  I  came  into  a  body  undefiled." 

It  is  a  very  old  teaching,  that  children  have  lived 
before,  and  that  this  is  not  the  first  body  that  they 
have  had.  The  poet  Wordsworth  writes  of  it  under 
the  heading: 


20  CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

Intimations  of  Immortality. 
Our  birth  is  but  a  sleep  and  a  forgetting: 
The  Soul  that  rises  with  us,  our  Life's  Star, 

Hath  had  elsewhere  its  setting, 

And  Cometh  from  afar. 

Not  in  entire  forgetfulness, 

And  not  in  utter  nakedness. 
But  trailing  clouds  of  glory,  do  we  come 

From  God,  who  is  our  Home: 
Heaven  lies  about  us  in  our  infancy. 

The  Unborn  Child's  Influence 

Much  has  been  said  of  the  influence  of  mothers 
over  their  unborn  children,  and  much  more  can  be 
said  about  it  and  how  to  make  it  of  the  very  best. 
But  little  or  nothing  has  been  said  about  the  influence 
of  the  child  upon  its  prospective  mother. 

Many  a  pregnant  woman  has  been  filled  with  won- 
der at  her  state  of  mind  during  the  pregnancy. 
Perhaps  it  has  been  unusually  spiritual,  poised  and 
exalted  or,  on  the  other  hand,  she  has  been  sur- 
prised at  her  aggressiveness,  loss  of  temper,  untrue 
thoughts,  strange  tastes,  unaccountable  hatreds,  etc. 
Her  friends  have  dismissed  it  with  a  light  *'0,  it's 
your  condition,  my  dear !"  ascribing  her  soul-torture 
to  material  causation  and  looking  no  further. 

Whereas,  the  mother  has  ''taken  on"  herself 
certain  former  traits  belonging  to  her  child,  some 
beautiful,  some  undesirable;  the  former  are  to  be 
established  upon  an  everlasting  basis,  the  latter 
redeemed. 

If  such  a  mother  is  conscientious  and  will  not  yield 
to  the  miserable  suggestions  that  arise,  then,  in  spite 
of  these  prenatal  influences,  her  child  will  be  sweet 
and  pure  and  lovely.     For  the  mother  and  the  child 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  21 

can  work  out  much  during  the  nine  months  of  inti- 
mate association.  Every  earthly  child  has  something 
to  work  out  that  does  not  belong  to  the  True  Self, 
and  fortunate  is  that  child  whose  mother  begins  early 
to  teach  it  self-control. 

Prenatal  Training 

The  mothers  of  ancient  Greece  believed  so  strongly 
in  the  influence  of  what  they  looked  upon,  to  deter- 
mine the  form  of  their  unborn  babes,  that  they  gazed 
for  hours  upon  beautiful  statues  and  other  objects  of 
art,  to  give  their  children  grace  and  beauty  of  body. 

The  mother  in  Truth,  who  knows  the  influence  of 
mind,  should  devote  all  her  thoughts  and  feelings 
daily  to  the  highest,  spiritual  ideals,  that  the  coming 
child  may  be  thoroughly  imbued  with  Truth,  and  so 
have  a  noble  foundation  for  a  life,  all  beautiful  both 
within  and  without. 

The  little  one  brings  characteristics  of  its  own 
from  a  previous  existence,  which  are  to  be  put  into 
the  crucible  of  experience  for  remolding,  or  to  be 
overshadowed  by  Truth,  to  be  redeemed.  If  the 
latter  is  the  way  that  its  happy  feet  shall  tread,  then 
its  life  will  have  a  minimum  of  suffering  and  a  maxi- 
mum of  joy.  But  if  that  little  one  can  learn  only  by 
experience,  its  way  will  be  hard  indeed. 

Silently  the  babe  can  be  taught  Truth,  its  soul 
drinking  it  in  and  its  mind  accepting  cool,  patient 
reasoning,  even  when  its  anger  flames  up  and  its 
screams  are  deafening. 

Woman's  Spiritual  Leadership 

"It  is  the  ever-womanly  that  leads  us  on,"  said  the 
poet  Goethe,  and  every  great  man  has  acknowledged 
the  part  that  some  good  woman  has  had  in  his  suc- 
cess, oftenest  his  mother. 


22  CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

Children  are  so  mouldable  —  even  the  worst, 
although  it  may  require  more  skill,  love  and  inspira- 
tion with  them  than  with  others.  But  with  the 
divine  means  at  hand,  no  mother  need  ever  be  dis- 
couraged, but  rather,  she  should  become  the  more 
earnest  and  zealous,  the  more  difficulties  the  problem 
presents. 

Children  that  seem  hardest  to  guide  in  their  early 
years  often  make  the  finest  of  men  and  women.  The 
number  of  years  that  a  mother  can  train  a  child,  as  a 
mother,  are  only  about  fifteen.  When  boys  and  girls 
have  reached  that  age,  they  take  the  reins  into  their 
own  hands  and  what  aid  their  mother  can  be  to  them 
after  that  must  be  as  a  beloved  companion. 

Fortunate  that  mother  who  has  brought  to  her 
child  the  realization  of  her  wisdom  and  her  desira- 
bility as  an  associate,  long  before  adolescence,  for 
then  there  can  be  a  fine  comradeship  between  them 
all  the  days  of  their  life. 

0  mother!  begin  early  to  accept  your  child  as  an 
Angel  direct  from  God,  and  to  disregard  its  shadow 
side,  many  times  counting  it  as  nothing;  or  when 
considering  it,  to  put  it  into  its  place  as  the  unreal 
and,  at  most,  only  an  indicator  of  what  is  to  be 
accentuated  in  the  child, — the  opposite  virtue  that  it 
has  come  this  time  to  bring  into  full  manifestation. 

So  shall  the  earthly  mother's  complete  joy  be  yours, 
to  which  shall  be  added  the  joy  of  your  Higher  Self, 
as  you  hear  the  welcome  of  the  Lord  of  us  all, 

"Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant;  thou  hast 
been  faithful  over  a  few  things,  I  will  make  thee 
ruler  over  many  things;  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of 
thy  Lord." 


III. 

Co-operation  Between  Parents  and  Children 

Parents*  First  Work 
T  must  be  borne  well  in  mind  by  parents, 
during  all  the  years  that  their  children  are 
developing,  that  they  themselves  are  their 
own  first  work.  Only  those  fathers  and 
mothers,  who  are  faithfully  seeking  to 
perfect  themselves,  can  bring  forth  the  perfection 
that  is  in  their  children. 

We  teach  more  by  the  silent  radiance  of  our  habit- 
ual thoughts  and  feelings  than  by  our  words.  If  our 
secret  nature  is  not  consistent  with  our  instruction, 
children  will  know  it,  for  most  of  them  are  sensitive 
to  the  unseen  forces,  and  the  result  may  be  heedless- 
ness to  the  parents'  commands,  if  not  willful  dis- 
obedience. 

The  work,  which  a  faithful  student  of  Truth  gives 
to  the  inner  life,  causes  the  mind  to  be  alert  and  keen 
to  perceive  the  delicate  interiors  of  children  where  lie 
the  roots  of  all  their  permanent  habits.  Here  also 
are  found  the  innocent  intentions  of  many  mistaken 
attitudes  and  actions.  For  children  do  and  say 
things  that  look  like  stealing,  lying  and  swearing  and 
which  have  shocked  parents  who,  "judging  after  the 
appearance  and  not  judging  righteous  judgment," 
feel  that  they  have  criminals  for  their  offspring,  to 
their  shame  and  humiliation.  And  sometimes  cruel 
punishment  is  dealt  to  the  innocent  culprits,  whose 
hearts  were  right  and  who  can  make  no  connection 
between  their  deed  and  the  harsh  treatment,  and  the 

23 


24  CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

only  impression  that  remains  is  of  the  injustice  and 
malevolence  of  their  parent,  with  an  estrangement 
that  lasts  throughout  their  earthly  life. 

Very  early  in  the  communion  between  parents  and 
children,  must  this  soul-knowledge  be  established. 
All  must  meditate  upon  the  divine  origin  and  nature 
of  humanity,  often  reminding  one  another  silently 
and  audibly,  of  the  True  Self. 

Self-Knowledge  and  Self-Control 
The  parent  who  has  true  self-respect  through 
revering  his  own  spiritual  nature  and  God-origin, 
will  be  respected  and  honored  by  his  children  with- 
out demanding  deference  from  them.  Nothing  is  of 
greater  delight  to  humanity  than  to  have  a  love  for 
another  that  is  mingled  with  awe  and  mystery.  No 
more  precious  gift  can  come  from  one  human  being 
to  another  than  such  a  love,  and  parents  can  retain 
that  love  forever  if  they  but  keep  the  goal  of  the 
Divine  Life  before  them,  and  at  all  times  exercise 
self-control. 

It  is  the  Spirit  within  us  that  gives  us  the  true 
knowledge  of  ourselves  and  the  power  to  rule  our- 
selves, and  this  same  Spirit  is  within  the  child,  to 
teach  it  and  to  give  it  self-mastery. 

The  child  can  learn  early  to  distinguish  between 
the  false  self,  or  ''naughty  one,"  and  the  true  or 
better  self,  God's  Child,  and  to  joy  in  the  sunshine  of 
mother's  approval  and  father's  companionship,  when- 
ever that  self  is  the  only  one  expressing.  Yet  there 
must  often  be  great,  and  even  inspired,  skill  on  the 
part  of  the  parent,  to  keep  these  free  souls  from  feel- 
ing themselves  leashed  and  in  consequence  becoming 
rebellious  against  the  conventions  and  forms  of  too 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  25 

strict  a  religious  training.  The  same  religious  terms 
should  not  be  repeated  too  often  and  the  teachings 
should  always  be  as  simple  and  natural  as  possible. 

The  Equality  Between  Parents  and  Children 

Bearing  ever  in  mind  that  as  Soul,  the  child  is  ever 
the  equal  of  its  parent,  the  latter  can  establish  that 
perfect  understanding  with  his  child  that  will  make 
them  comrades  for  life.  Your  superiority  in  the 
matter  of  experience,  you  will  understand  as  a  stu- 
dent of  Truth,  is  not  a  real  superiority,  yet  it  can  be 
of  advantage  to  your  child  especially  in  guiding  him 
as  to  what  to  avoid.  A  wise  parent  can  so  bring 
forth  Truth  in  a  child,  as  to  make  its  earth-life  full 
of  experiences  in  good  but  with  few,  of  an  evil  nature. 

While  you  may  try  to  save  your  little  one  much 
experience,  yet  you  may  discover  in  it  very  early,  a 
passion  for  trying  things  for  itself.  Then  let  such 
enter  into  experiences  under  your  supervision,  hav- 
ing first  told  them  of  what  they  may  find  that  is 
undesirable  in  their  experiment. 

Herbert  Spencer  counsels  parents  not  to  be  too 
hasty  in  saving  their  children  from  the  fruits  of 
disobedience,  when  the  result  will  not  be  very  harm- 
ful to  them. 

Thus  if  a  child  persists  in  putting  its  finger  in  the 
candle-flame,  after  it  has  been  told  that  it  is  not  best, 
that  child  will  not  profit  by  your  advice ;  therefore  do 
not  move  the  candle  away  but  let  it  put  its  finger  in 
the  flame.  You  may  not  impress  it  with  the  burning 
power  of  the  flame — that  is  not  necessary — but  it  will 
be  impressed  with  the  desirability  of  accepting 
instruction  from  the  one  that  knows,  instead  of  learn- 
ing by  experience. 


26  CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

Happy  is  the  man  who  learns  in  his  childhood,  that 
Truth  itself  can  teach  us  all  things  and  that  experi- 
ence is  a  hard  teacher,  a  taskmaster,  from  which  we 
are  all  to  be  delivered. 

True  Yoke-Fellows  in  Christ 

We  are  all  upon  this  earth  for  one  true  purpose,  to 
bring  eternal  happiness  to  our  fellow-beings  and  be 
a  glory  to  our  Source.  This  truth  should  be  told 
our  little  ones  through  stories  from  the  Bible  such  as 
that  about  little  Samuel;  the  little  Hebrew  maid 
through  whom  Naaman,  the  leper,  was  healed ;  young 
David  and  his  conquest  of  Goliath,  and  young  Daniel 
who  refused  the  king's  food  because  he  would  master 
his  appetites ;  the  boy  Jesus,  and  the  children  whom 
he,  when  a  man,  raised  from  the  dead.  One  Truth- 
mother  made  it  a  practice  to  tell  her  children  these 
stories  whenever  she  gave  them  their  evening  bath. 
Another  tells  them  to  her  little  ones  as  their  bed-time 
stories. 

As  yoke-fellows  with  their  parents  in  the  same 
cause,  that  is,  to  establish  heaven  on  the  earth,  chil- 
dren can  learn  to  send  out  the  message  of  healing  to 
individuals  and  to  the  whole  world.  Thus  they  can 
begin  their  ministry  that  they  were  sent  by  God  to 
bless  the  world  with,  while  yet  their  years  are  few. 
The  aspiration  to  follow  Jesus  all  the  way  can  be 
nourished,  and  the  faith,  that  will  "do  the  same 
works"  that  Jesus  did,  be  established.  The  old  ambi- 
tions will  be  supplemented  by  the  new  and  true 
aspirations,  and  the  name  and  the  fame,  that  the 
worldly  mind  seeks,  shall  be  resolved  into  the  eager 
desire  to  please  God,  alone,  and  glorify  His  presence 
here  on  the  earth. 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  27 

If  one's  child  rebels  against  religious  training  and 
it  does  not  come  with  ease  and  naturalness  between 
parents  and  child,  then  the  silent  way  is  to  be  used. 
Perhaps  there  is  an  old  memory  of  religion  as  a  bond- 
age, hypocrisy,  tyranny  and  cruel  martyrdom,  and 
the  child's  whole  nature  feels  revulsion  toward  its 
forms  and  even  the  wording.  Be  patient,  good  father 
and  mother !  pray  faithfully,  and  the  light  will  come 
that  shall  be  welcome  to  your  child,  and  with  it  you 
can  lay  the  foundation  of  a  true  spiritual  life. 

Firmness  Without  Domineering 

Most  children  are  open  to  reason,  although  desire 
is  so  strong  as  to  make  some  seem  passionately  resist- 
ant to  reasoning.     It  is  wise  to  make  few  rules. 

At  all  times,  parents  should  be  slow  about  giving 
orders  or  making  rules,  but  when  what  has  been 
ordered  has  received  one's  own  inner  endorsement, 
the  parent  should  be  firm  as  a  rock. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  a  command  has  been  given 
hastily,  or  not  well  considered,  and  there  is  a  sense 
that  it  should  be  taken  back,  let  a  parent  not  hesitate 
to  set  the  order  aside,  even  with  an  apology  or 
explanation. 

One  need  not  fear  that  a  child  will  form  false 
conclusions  about  its  parent.  Children  understand 
and  love  equity  and  kindness,  and  are  not  so  apt  to  be 
"spoiled"  by  leniency  as  by  injustice  and  thought- 
lessness. 

The  old-fashioned  idea  that  because  "I  say  so,"  an 
elder  should  be  obeyed  is  passing  away  through  the 
youthful  consciousness  of  the  present  age.  The 
sharp  lines  between  old  and  young  are  being  erased, 
with  greater  gain  than  loss,  although  in  this  transi- 


28  CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

tion  time,  the  respect  and  courtesies  of  the  young 
toward  their  elders  seem  sadly  missing.  But  let  us 
not  fear,  for  love  is  increasing,  and,  in  reality,  we 
are  all  taking  a  new  base,  and  a  new  chivalry  shall 
come  to  us  whose  foundations  will  not  be  fear  and 
convention,  but  spirit  and  love. 

Good  Manners  and  Politeness 

Be  what  you  would  have  your  child  to  be.  Ways 
of  courtesy  and  even  forms  of  politeness  are  taught 
best  by  example,  although  some  gentle  and  thoughtful 
rules  of  conduct  must  be  described,  the  reasons  given 
and  the  practice  illustrated  at  times  especially  set 
aside  to  that  training. 

The  parent  who  will  be  watchful  not  to  interrupt 
his  son,  without  a  word  of  apology;  who  will  never 
forget  to  thank  him  for  an  attention  expressed ;  who 
will  never  willingly  humiliate  him  before  others,  will 
teach  many  of  the  small  kindnesses  of  life  without  a 
word.  The  true  gentleman  is  truly  of  the  heart  a 
gentle  man,  because  spiritual  and  a  Christian. 

In  Japan,  sometimes  called  "the  children's  para- 
dise," the  tiny  Japanese  learn  gentle  manners  with 
but  few  words  from  their  parents.  Children  are 
reverenced  in  Japan  and  families  delight  to  welcome 
every  new  comer  to  the  household.  In  consequence 
they  bloom  under  such  love,  and  are  obedient  and 
deferential  and  take  upon  themselves  the  pretty 
graces  of  oriental  etiquette  with  little  if  any  prompt- 
ing from  their  parents. 

Children's  Questions 

The  old  beliefs  that  children  acquire  knowledge 
from  without,  and  that,  by  words  only,  can  most 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  29 

information  be  conveyed,  are  the  cause  of  the  much 
questioning  on  the  part  of  the  child. 

The  Truth,  that  an  understanding  of  all  things, 
those  material  as  well  as  spiritual,  can  spring  from 
within,  opens  up  a  child's  interiors  in  a  way  most 
happy  and  enlightening  to  the  parent  that  compan- 
ions it. 

Practice  meeting  the  **Whys"  of  a  young  mind 
with  a  silent  "You  know,"  speaking  of  its  Divine 
Mind,  the  omniscient  One. 

Then  ask  him  to  give  his  idea ;  never  laugh  at  the 
unusual  and  original  opinions  unless,  of  course,  the 
child's  humor  is  evident.  But  encourage  children's 
expressing  themselves,  and  lead  their  fancies  on  to 
facts,  and  often  ponder  their  utterances,  like  another 
Mary,  in  your  heart. 

We  should  give  accurate  replies  to  their  questions 
as  far  as  possible,  and  if  puzzled  ourselves,  we  can 
often  reply  silently  with  the  absolute  truth,  which 
can  be  heard  by  the  child's  heart  with  a  result  of 
satisfaction  and  thoughtfulness,  that  will  please  and 
often  amaze  us. 

Of  Such  Is  the  Kingdom  of  God 

All  the  time  given  to  the  unfoldment  of  children 
is  contributed  to  our  own  return  to  childlikeness, 
which  must  be,  that  we  may  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  to  abide  forever.  An  endeavor  to  see  with 
their  innocent  eyes,  to  view  life  with  their  guileless 
perception,  brings  us  to  our  own  Christ  simplicity 
and  purity.  Also  it  helps  us  to  a  free  and  happy 
intercourse  with  children.  We  discover  by  talking  to 
their  souls,  that  they  understand  truth  regardless 
of  the  language, — the  long  and  unfamiliar  words — 


30  CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

we  use;  also  when  by  this  same  soul-power,  we  see 
things  from  the  child's  view-point,  a  communion  is 
set  up  that  requires  few  words,  only  the  language  of 
the  soul. 

Then  the  Christ  within  blesses  little  children,  tak- 
ing them  out  from  under  the  curse  of  the  dark  past, 
that  has  held  the  race  back  so  long. 

When  Jesus  had  told  some  of  the  deep  truths  of 
marriage,  giving  a  holy  light  as  to  the  right  relation- 
ship between  men  and  women  and  their  possible  free- 
dom from  sex-appetite,  his  words  removed  the  curse 
from  women  and  children,  so  that  the  mothers 
pressed  their  children  upon  the  Master  to  bless  them. 

Jesus'  immediate  disciples  tried  to  prevent  the 
coming  of  the  little  ones.  In  their  eyes,  children  were 
still  under  the  curse,  the  offspring  of  sin  and  not 
ready  for  the  Master's  message.  But  Jesus  sweeps 
aside  these  old  views,  and  declares  children  to  be  in 
the  van  of  the  host  that, leads  us  into  the  heavenly 
consciousness. 

If  in  your  family  or  environment,  there  are  men 
and  women  who,  like  those  disciples,  disapprove  of 
children,  thinking  that  they  should  '*be  seen  and  not 
heard"  and  in  many  ways  would  discipline  them  as 
you  would  not,  such  may  begin  to  illustrate  to  the 
young  natures  what  "taking  up  the  cross"  means, 
returning  kindness  for  meanness,  making  nothing  of 
evil,  doing  good  to  those  that  hate  you,  and  the  other 
precepts  in  the  great  "Sermon  on  the  Mount." 

By  sympathy  and  freedom  from  blaming,  or  pass- 
ing harsh  judgment  upon  the  peccadillos  of  youth,  a 
father  or  mother  can  so  win  the  confidence  of  the 
growing  boys  and  girls,  that  they  will  tell  their 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  31 

parent  all  that  is  going  on  in  their  lives.  The  young 
often  feel  that  they  must  exploit  life,  and  if  their 
natural  guardian  refrains  from  expressing  adverse 
opinions,  or  fears  of  serious  consequences,  or  old- 
fashioned  notions — in  other  words  will  exercise  the 
magic  art  of  keeping  still,  both  within  and  without, 
great  can  be  their  influence  when  their  counsel  is 
sought,  and  their  comfort  and  their  sympathy  will  be 
most  welcome. 

In  the  Divine  Sight,  we  are  all  of  one  age,  children 
of  the  same  Parent,  who  has  not  hesitated  to  let  us 
take  ''the  portion  of  goods  that  falleth"  to  us  and  go 
on  "a  journey  into  a  far  country,"  knowing  that  we 
shall  all  yet  return  satisfied,  never  again  to  leave  our 
Father's  house. 


IV. 

The  Child^s  Query 

Where  Did  I  Come  From? 
NE  of  the  most  interesting  studies  in  scien- 
tific psychology  is  the  mental  development 
of  a  babe,  as  it  advances  from  its  first 
stage  of  consciousness,  which  it  holds  in 
common  with  all  sentient  beings,  to  its 
consciousness  of  itself — when  it  begins  to  reflect 
upon  itself. 

As  a  clear  spring  of  water  may  run  in  a  tiny 
thread,  alone,  for  some  distance,  so  it  is  with  the 
simple  consciousness  of  a  new  human  being.  But 
later,  other  streams  join  it,  and  it  is  then  that  reflec- 
tion upon  itself  makes  this  consciousness  appear 
more  or  less  complex,  and  here  it  is  that  the  guardian 
of  the  streamlet  has  the  privilege  of  keeping  its 
waters  pure  and  limpid,  if  she,  or  he,  knows  the 
nature  of  the  child,  and  how  best  to  meet  all  its  needs, 
spiritual,  mental  and  physical. 

At  first  the  child  refers  to  itself  in  the  third  per- 
son— "Bobby  wants  this*'  or  "Take  Baby  up,*'  and  so 
forth;  then  it  refers  to  itself  as  "me,''  and  finally 
it  is  "I." 

When  this  stage  is  reached,  then  come  the  ques- 
tions about  this  wonderful  being;  that  is  in  its  posses- 
sion, and  the  most  important  of  all  is,  "Where  did  I 
come  from?" 

When  First  the  Query  Is  Made 
It  is  a  sacred  moment  when  first  that  little  query 
is  made.    Fortunate  the  parent  who  hears  it,  if  she 

32 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  •     33 

realizes  that  not  yet  have  the  pure  ears  of  her  little 
one  been  touched  by  the  breath  of  untrue  report,  but 
they  are  open  to  the  fairest  presentation  of  the 
mystic  story. 

How  false  it  is  to  brush  a  child  aside  with  a  fable, 
a  lie  or  an  impatient  or  weak  deferring  of  the  infor- 
mation ! 

As  soon  as  a  child  asks  the  question  about  its  own 
origin,  or  that  of  the  little  ones,  that  have  come  so 
unexpectedly  and  mysteriously  into  its  life,  it  is  ready 
for  the  answer.  If  the  moment  is  not  auspicious  in 
which  to  tell  the  story,  then  name  a  quiet  hour  when 
you  know  there  will  be  no  interruption  and  satisfy 
them  with  the  assurance  that  then  you  will  tell  them 
all  about  it. 

Divide  "our  story'*  into  two  parts,  the  first  to  be 
about  the  origin  of  the  soul,  the  second  about  the 
source  of  the  body.  Or  better  still,  make  it  a  bed- 
time story,  to  be  told  many  nights  in  succession,  as 
long  as  there  is  something  interesting  to  tell  about 
the  Real  Self  and  the  Little  House  in  which  it  lives. 
The  Angel,  Ever  in  Heaven 

The  first  thing  to  describe  to  your  little  pupil  is  the 
place  and  state  in  which  he  lived  before  he  came  to 
this  earth,  or  became  visible  to  the  eyes  of  those  that 
love  him. 

The  parent  who  knows  the  divine  origin  of  his 
child,  that  it  lived  before  its  body  was  conceived  and 
born,  may  well  embrace  the  opportunity  to  describe 
the  Real  Self  of  his  child  to  the  little  listener,  so  that 
it  will  never  forget  its  true  nature. 

To  tell  it  how  it  lived  with  its  heavenly  Father,  as 
an  angel — "in  heaven  their  angels  do  always  behold 


84  CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

the  face  of  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven"  (Matt. 
18:10) — ^that  that  is  its  Real  Self  which  is  wise  and 
good,  loving  and  pure,  unselfish  and  kind;  that 
heaven  is  all  about  us,  and  we  see  it  while  our  eyes 
are  pure ;  that  it  has  a  center  in  our  heart,  and  our 
angel  is  in  our  good  thinking  and  our  good  feelings. 
This  is  to  open  a  spiritual  ''Arabian  Nights'  Enter- 
tainment" of  endless  love-tales  between  a  mother  and 
her  child. 

In  this  instruction  is  laid  the  foundation  of  the 
successful  life  of  the  Spirit.  For  the  child  to  see 
that  its  angel-self  is  always  good  and  cannot  be  other- 
wise, is  to  acquire  a  power  of  discrimination  between 
the  good  One  and  the  bad  child,  and  to  work  out  its 
own  salvation.  For  each  human  being  has  come  into 
this  world  to  embody  Happiness,  God's  own  Self,  in 
the  flesh,  and  there  are  certain  errors  or  forms  of 
ignorance  which,  like  weeds,  may  seem  to  grow  vig- 
orously under  the  same  Sun  of  Truth,  that  causes  the 
Flowers  of  Immortality  to  bloom. 

And  these  weeds  must  be  known  as  weeds — the 
naughty  thoughts,  words  and  deeds — ^while  they  are 
yet  small,  that  they  may  not  fruit  as  sins  and  bring 
on  their  miserable  harvest  of  disease,  poverty  and 
death. 

The  Innocence  That  Is  Ignorance 

It  is  possible  for  every  child  to  pass  from  a  state  of 
innocence,  which  depends  upon  ignorance  in  order 
to  remain  intact,  to  a  state  of  innocence  that  has  the 
Christ-knowledge  as  its  foundation  and  therefore  is 
established  forever. 

The  purity  of  Adam  and  Eve  before  the  serpent- 
error  insinuated  itself  into  their  consciousness,  is  the 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  35 

purity  of  the  little  child,  untried  and  unproven — a 
negative  innocence.  But  when  purity  is  established 
upon  the  principle  of  the  Christ-Truth  (not  that  tree- 
of-good-and-evil  knowledge)  then  all  that  is  beauti- 
ful, holy,  sweet,  noble  and  strong  in  Innocence  is 
retained,  and  it  passes  from  its  weak,  naked  and 
untried  negative,  to  its  strong,  glorified  and  proven- 
positive  in  Christ. 

Most  members  of  the  human  race,  who  have  come 
to  their  salvation,  have  not  been  able  to  pass  from 
the  negative  innocence  to  the  positive  innocence  with- 
out an  interim  of  struggle  and  plunging  through  the 
dark  waters  of  experience  in  evil.  It  is  from  this 
"forty  years  wandering  in  the  wilderness"  that  the 
Christ  came  to  save  us.  Therefore,  if  the  Truth  is 
given  to  our  children  early,  they  can  be  saved  from 
these  agonies  through  which  their  ignorant  ancestors 
have  had  to  pass. 

Without  Sin  or  Shame 

Little  ones  in  their  simplicity  are  modest  in  the 
truest  sense  of  the  word,  which  is  non-assertion  of 
the  ego,  and  this  willingness  "to  stay  in  the  back- 
ground,'' making  their  little  personalities  a  screen 
upon  which  the  picture  of  their  true  Self  can  be  por- 
trayed, prepares  them  to  wear  their  clothes,  as 
curtains  fall  over  a  picture,  without  sense  of  vanity 
or  shame. 

Instead  of  inculcating  shame  as  a  reason  for 
covering  the  body,  the  idea  of  the  sacredness  of  cer- 
tain parts  should  be  presented.  There  is  an  innate 
understanding  with  every  soul  of  the  Holy  of  Holies, 
and  the  very  words  "Pure  and  clean''  become  as 
guarding  angels  to  keep  the  Way  of  Life.     Never 


36  CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

should  the  thought  of  shame  be  put  into  a  child's 
mind  as  to  any  part  of  its  body. 

The  Origin  of  the  Body 

Often,  when  the  story  of  where  "I"  came  from  has 
been  told,  it  is  satisfying  and  productive  of  so  much 
meditation,  as  to  put  the  question  of  the  source  of  the 
form  quite  into  the  back-ground,  where  it  belongs. 
But  some  mentalities  work  very  quickly,  and  the 
knowledge-hunger  will  soon  be  in  evidence  again. 
Then  the  happiest  way  to  describe  the  mystery  is  to 
begin  with  the  known,  and,  through  comparison, 
present  the  unknown. 

The  child  learns  early  to  observe  the  hatching  of 
chickens  and  birds,  and  a  description  of  how  the 
little  bird  lies  in  the  eggy  tucked  away  in  its  nest, 
while  the  mother-bird  warms  it  until  it  is  ready  to 
hatch  out,  can  easily  explain  the  coming  of  the  babe. 

"The  birds  have  their  nests  in  the  trees,*'  mother 
says,  as  "Our  Story"  unrolls,  "but  the  nest,  where  the 
baby  lies,  is  within  its  mother  under  her  heart." 

Then  can  follow  the  account  of  the  long  months 
that  that  heart  loves  the  little  babe  and  warms  it 
while  it  grows. 

"And  what  mother  eats  feeds  the  little  babe  too; 
and  it  thinks  with  her  and  is  happy  when  she  is,  and 
day  after  day,  it  lives  her  life,  and  loves  with  her, 
until  at  last  God  makes  a  way  and  little  baby  is  no 
longer  hidden,  but  comes  to  mother's  arms." 

So  simply  and  purely  can  the  tale  be  told,  that 
though  it  may  be  the  wonderment  of  a  life-time, 
there  is  never  a  sorrow  nor  a  shame  associated  with 
it,  but  only  a  greater  love  and  reverence  for  the 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  37 

mother  that,  by  the  power  of  God,  gave  it  life  and  its 
good  body. 

It  Is  "Our  Story" 

It  is  wisdom  to  let  the  little  one  know  that  it  is  a 
story  to  be  talked  over  "just  between  ourselves,*'  and 
that  anything  that  he,  or  she,  wishes  to  know,  to  come 
to  mother,  who  can  always  tell  the  truth  about  it. 

One  little  boy  overheard  his  playmates  discussing 
these  vital  matters,  and  said  to  them  (he  reported  the 
facts  to  his  mother)  : 

"You  fellows  don't  know  anjrthing  what  you're 
talking  about!    It  isn't  that  way  at  all." 

"Well,  you  tell  us  about  it  then !"  they  replied. 

"No !  I'll  not !"  he  said.  "You  had  better  go  home 
and  ask  your  mothers  about  it !" 

"And,  mother,"  he  continued,  "they  were  so  ignor- 
ant and  said  they  didn't  dare  to  ask  their  mothers." 

How  glad  that  mother  was  that  she  had  told  her 
son  all.  She  had  not  hesitated  to  tell  him  of  the 
awful  agony  through  which  she  had  passed  to  give 
him  life,  and  to  let  him  know  that  this  was  the  price 
that  every  mother  paid.  It  made  the  little  fellow 
suffer,  but  a  manliness  and  an  awe  came  upon  him  as 
he  looked  at  her  with  new  eyes,  and  told  her  how  he 
should  always  love  and  cherish  her  for  what  she  had 
done  for  him. 

This  mother  had  not  learned  the  Truth  of  the  pos- 
sibility of  painless  child-bearing,  and  this  is  one 
advantage  that  we  have  in  giving  the  story  to  our 
children,  thus  laying  the  foundation  for  a  generation 
that  shall  be  free  from  fear  and  danger  in  its  bring- 
ing forth. 

It  is  best  not  to  fill  the  mind  of  youth  with  too  many 


S8  CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

details  of  the  process  of  impregnation  and  gestation. 
The  story  is  so  great,  that  the  simpler  it  is  presented 
at  first  the  better. 

The  Power  of  a  Mother's  Prayers 

The  early  years  of  a  human  life  carry  the  primitive 
tendencies,  and  therefore  may  seem  open  to  unmoral 
influences,  a  kind  of  careless  freedom  that  is  not 
necessarily  immoral,  yet,  if  the  child  be  neglected, 
liable  to  bring  to  it  harmful  consequences. 

Many  of  the  diseases  of  children  spring  from  an 
unchaste  atmosphere.  The  higher  standard  of  living 
and  greater  cleanness  in  thinking  will  result  in 
reducing  the  numbers  in  the  statistics  of  infantile 
mortality. 

Mothers  must  learn  the  significance  of  the  intima- 
tions that  spring  up  within  them  concerning  danger 
which  threatens  their  children.  Instead  of  interpret- 
ing such  impressions  to  mean  that  the  children  must 
be  protected  as  to  their  outer  health  only,  let  us  learn 
to  lift  up  a  prayer  for  the  defense  and  protection  of 
the  child's  inner  nature,  as  well  as  the  outer. 

By  learning  to  refer  every  form  of  anxiety  for 
one's  children  to  the  Spirit,  and  declaring  its  protec- 
tion, a  mother  can  be  led  to  the  knowledge  of  the  way 
to  save  her  child  from  many  mistakes. 

Thus  a  mother,  who  had  a  knowledge  of  Truth, 
found  herself  continually  impressed  to  keep  an  eye 
upon  her  little  boy,  who  was  about  seven  years  old. 
As  he  was  normally  well  (although  at  times  very 
nervous  and  backward  in  school),  she  wondered  at 
these  impressions.  But  she  did  not  put  these  feelings 
aside  with  a  sense  of  annoyance,  as  she  might  have 
done  once.    Each  time  she  silently  sent  the  word  of 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  39 

God's  protecting  presence  to  little  Robert.  One 
morning,  like  a  thunderclap,  came  the  inner  Voice, 
*'Go  and  find  Robert  quickly."  She  dropped  her 
housework  and  hastened,  to  discover  her  boy  in  a 
self-destructive  practice  that  she  had  not  dreamed 
possible  to  her  innocent  baby.  The  knowledge  was 
a  shock,  but  she  took  the  case  to  a  healer,  and 
together  they  worked  until,  by  the  power  of  Truth, 
the  boy  was  set  free  from  a  habit  that  has  wrecked 
the  lives  of  many. 

Another,  who  was  the  mother  of  five  very  lively 
boys,  was  one  morning  suddenly  impressed  with  the 
feeling  that  one  of  her  boys  was  in  great  need  of 
help — whether  it  was  moral,  mental  or  physical  she 
could  not  tell.  But  she  had  grown  familiar  with 
these  knocks  upon  the  door  of  her  heart  from  the 
angel-guardians  of  her  boys.  She  dropped  on  her 
knees  and  prayed  God  to  protect  her  boy  until  there 
came  a  sense  of-  relief  to  her,  and  she  knew  the  boy 
was  safe. 

About  half  an  hour  after  this  prayer,  her  young 
son,  eight  years  old,  came  home  looking  like  a 
drowned  rat.  He  had  been  playing  on  the  shore  of 
the  bay  and  had  found  an  old  boat  lying  at  the  edge 
of  the  water,  had  pushed  it  off,  climbed  into  it  and 
had  rowed  from  the  shore  to  deep  water,  when  sud- 
denly the  boat  filled  and  he  went  down. 

"Mamma,"  he  said,  "I  went  down  and  came  up 
twice,  and  the  last  time  I  called  to  you  with  all  my 
might,  and  I  didn't  go  down  any  more.  And  I  don't 
know  how  I  got  to  the  shore." 

As  the  little  fellow  could  not  swim,  he  might  well 
wonder.    But  his  mother  knew. 


40  CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

Strength  and  Beauty  in  the  Pure  Life 

At  the  time  instruction  is  being  given  the  young 
boy  and  girl,  as  to  their  procreative  powers,  which 
should  begin  at  about  the  time  of  maturing — the  age 
of  twelve  is  not  too  early — ideals  of  the  pure  life 
should  be  presented  also. 

Youth  is  ambitious  to  be  strong  and  beautiful,  and 
parents  should  gather  material  to  show  "the  strength 
of  a  clean  life"  and  the  beauty,  that  only  remains 
where  purity  abides, — the  shining  hair,  the  clear-cut 
features,  the  radiant  complexion,  the  crystal  eye. 

Many  of  our  young  people  are  ready  for  the  life  of 
regeneration  and  do  not  care  to  enter  into  generation. 
Not  knowing  any  but  the  carnal  view  of  the  relation- 
ship of  the  sexes  in  marriage,  they  have  little  desire 
to  marry.  They  do  not  understand  themselves  nor 
are  they  understood  by  their  people.  Later,  they 
assume  the  marital  relations  to  find  themselves  most 
unhappy  and  expressing  their  regretful  "I  never 
should  have  married.'' 

When  a  sweet  and  candid  companionship  exists 
between  parents  and  their  children,  all  the  detail  of 
the  ideal  marriage  can  be  presented,  without  touch- 
ing the  dark  side  of  the  lawless  lives  of  the  unclean, 
which  is  so  repulsive  to  minds  that  have  been  nur- 
tured in  a  clean  moral  atmosphere. 

There  are  youthful  hearts  and  minds  to  whom  all 
these  things  are  as  nothing,  and  it  is  well  that  we  do 
not  impress  them  with  the  horror  of  the  unchaste. 
For  we  remember  the  words  of  Paul  to  the  Romans : 

"I  know  and  am  persuaded  by  the  Lord  Jesus,  that 
there  is  nothing  unclean  of  itself:  but  to  him  that 
esteemeth  any  thing  to  be  unclean,  to  him  it  is 
unclean"  (Rom.  14:14). 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  41 

And  again, 

"Unto  the  pure  all  things  are  pure." 

And  the  words  of  Jesus, 

"Behold,  all  things  are  clean  unto  you." 

We  bear  in  mind,  that  the  Spirit  is  teaching  our 
children  the  Way  of  Life,  that  turns  neither  to  the 
right  nor  to  the  left,  but  ever  mounts  up  to  God,  and 
therefore  we  can  abandon  them  to  His  guidance  and 
protection,  believing  with  Milton  that, 

"So  dear  to  heaven  is  saintly  chastity. 
That  when  a  soul  is  found  sincerely  so, 
A  thousand  liveried  angels  lackey  her. 
Driving  far  off  each  thing  of  sin  and  guilt." 


V. 

Healing  Children 

Children  Easy  to  Heal 
HERE  are  no  more  responsive  patients  to 
the  word  of  Truth,  that  brings  health, 
than  little  children.  For  the  errors  that 
lie  back  of  their  diseases  have  little  root  in 
their  own  mentality,  being  principally 
reflections  from  the  false  thinking  of  others. 

The  same  general  procedure  that  is  followed  in  the 
treatment  of  adults  will  apply  to  the  healing  of  chil- 
dren. Therefore  those  who  would  be  proficient 
should  study  the  lessons  given  in  the  text-books  of 
Christian  healing.* 

The  soul  of  the  child,  being  great  and  wise  with 
the  wisdom  of  God,  can  hear  the  message  of  Truth 
just  as  readily  as  the  soul  of  the  adult.  Jesus,  who 
understood  human  nature  perfectly,  welcomed  the 
little  children  and  gave  them  special  blessings  of 
healing  and  spiritual  endowment. 

** Suffer  the  little  children  to  come  unto  me  and 
forbid  them  not :  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  God. 
And  he  took  them  in  his  arms,  and  put  his  hands 
upon  them,  and  blessed  them." — Mark  10 :14,  16. 

Parents  to  Be  Treated  First 
In  almost  every  case  of  illness  in  children,  there  is 
some  one  who  is  anxious  and  fearful  about  them,  and 


*An  excellent  help  is  the  hand-book,  The  Way  to  Heal  (25 
cts.  a  copy),  especially  when  used  in  conjunction  with  Mrs. 
Militz'  "Christian  Living  and  Healing.*' 
42 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  43 

this  is  the  first  thing  that  must  receive  the  attention 
of  the  healer. 

For  children  are  like  little  mirrors  of  those  they 
love  and  look  to  for  comfort  and  sustenance.  They 
reflect  very  quickly  any  strong  feeling  or  state  of 
mind  on  the  part  of  a  dear  parent  or  guardian,  even 
though  the  feelings  have  been  hidden  from  the  outer 
senses,  and  no  one  has  spoken  about  them. 

How  often  a  mother  makes  remarks  like, 

"0,  troubles  never  come  singly!  I  thought  I  had 
enough  to  bear  and  now  the  baby  is  sick !" 

She  does  not  know  that  it  is  the  very  trouble  that 
is  haunting  her  that  lies  at  the  root  of  the  baby's 
fever.  And  usually  it  is  the  tenderest  child,  the  deli- 
cate one, — the  most  negative,  though  not  necessarily 
the  youngest,  of  all  the  children, — ^the  mother's  spe- 
cial care,  that  is  most  easily  affected.  That  parent 
must  rise  above  her  trouble  and  return  to  the  peace 
of  soul  that  is  our  only  true  state,  and  ever  remain 
in  that  secret  place,  if  she  would  rear  her  little  ones 
in  a  healthy  mind-sphere,  which  is  more  important 
than  a  sanitary  atmosphere. 

Children  to  Reflect  Only  Good 

Yet,  it  is  possible,  even  before  a  parent  or  guar- 
dian has  reached  that  place  of  true  self-control,  to 
put  a  child  into  that  holy  consciousness,  wherein  it 
shall  not  reflect  aught  but  the  good,  but  shall  become 
wholly  immune  to  evil  suggestion.  Here  is  not  only 
the  key  to  physical  health  but  also  to  moral  sound- 
ness. 

It  is  not  by  keeping  a  child  out  of  the  world  that 
it  can  be  best  protected.  Rather  let  the  young  go 
forth,  enfolded  in  the  aura  of  its  own  holy  Self- 


44  CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

hood,  **in  the  world  but  not  of  it,"  and  nothing  can 
contaminate  nor  infect  such  a  child.  Associating 
with  those  who  seem  unclean  and  unfit  for  com- 
panionship, instead  of  catching  their  impurity,  that 
child  will  have  a  purity  so  positive  that  it  will  cleanse 
its  comrades  and  be  a  power  of  God  to  regenerate 
its  times. 

So,  if  you  observe  that  your  unhappiness,  finan- 
cial worriment  or  marital  troubles  are  beginning  to 
picture  upon  your  child,  painful  and  feverish  condi- 
tions, begin  to  hold  the  little  one  in  the  Christ  pres- 
ence, surrounded  as  in  a  fortress  by  the  All-Good 
and  reflecting  only  the  Real  which  is  the  Good,  which 
is  all  there  ever  is  to  reflect,  all  else  being  sheer 
nothingness. 

Infections  and  "Children's  Diseases" 

One  of  the  most  vicious  errors  that  has  ever  been 
saddled  upon  suffering  humanity  by  its  own  self- 
hypnotism,  is  the  belief  that  certain  diseases  are 
natural  to  children.  The  lie  goes  back  into  ''the 
dark  ages,"  that  mumps  and  measles  and  whooping- 
cough  must  be  experienced  by  every  child,  that  if  he 
escapes  them  in  childhood,  they  will  come  upon  him 
in  later  life  with  liability  of  very  serious  results. 

With  this  distorted  view,  parents  have  exposed 
children  to  contagion  with  supine  yielding  to  what 
they  feel  to  be  inevitable,  even  planning  that  they 
shall  have  certain  diseases  "the  best  time  of  the 
year"  so  as  "to  get  over  it  and  be  done  with  it." 

Filled  with  panic  at  the  rumor  that  diphtheria, 
scarlet  fever  or  infantile  paralysis  is  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, poor,  ignorant  fathers  and  mothers,  by 
their  very  fears,  open  the  doors  to  the  dreaded  foes. 
Yet  they  hold  the  means  of  their  child's  defense  in 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  45 

their  own  mind,  and  instantly  they  should  use  their 
fears  as  the  railway  engineer  uses  the  red  flag  that 
he  sees  waving  ahead  of  his  train.  It  does  not  para- 
lyze him,  but  it  makes  him  act  at  once. 

When  Fear  Seizes  a  Parent 

The  instant  a  fearful  thought  arises  in  the  heart 
or  mind,  turn  to  the  Truth  of  the  omnipresence  of 
God,  the  Almighty  Good  of  your  child.  Think  of 
the  Health,  the  Life,  the  perfect  Christ-being  that 
fills  and  surrounds  your  child  until  there  comes  to 
you  a  sweet  assurance  of  its  safety;  and  though  the 
miserable  suggestions  of  danger  return  again  and 
again,  and  even  symptoms  of  the  disease  begin  to 
show,  keep  returning  yourself  to  the  true  faith  until 
the  false  condition  succumbs  before  the  Truth  you 
persistently  voice  in  the  silent  deeps  of  your  watch- 
ful soul. 

Let  no  one  into  the  presence  of  your  child  that 
will  think  and  suggest  alarming  thoughts.  This  is 
one  reason  why  the  materialistic  physician  should 
be  kept  far  from  your  children.  If  a  doctor  must 
be  called  in  because  of  the  demand  of  the  other  par- 
ent, then  choose  a  spiritual  man  or  woman  who  will 
not  be  skeptical  as  to  the  power  of  true  thought. 
Many  of  the  most  advanced  physicians  are  heart 
and  hand  with  spiritual  healers ;  seek  them,  not  the 
spiritually-ignorant  and  bigoted  doctors. 

But  best  of  all,  keep  to  the  Great  Physician,  use 
no  materia  medica,  trust  in  the  Christ-word  as  your 
all-sufficiency.  If  there  are  broken  bones  or  cut 
arteries,  a  surgeon's  skill  may  be  a  good  aid,  but 
even  here,  the  Truth  has  been  proved  wholly  able  to 
replace  and  rebind  the  broken  places,  and  to  heal 


46  CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

quickly  "by  first  intention,"  that  is,  from  the  inmost, 
out,  and  without  fever. 

The  healer  who  is  called  in  to  bless  the  little  child, 
after  removing  the  fears  of  the  parents,  and  declar- 
ing the  Truth  of  the  child's  freedom  from  false  re- 
flection, must  systematically  heal  the  parents  of  the 
errors  that  have  made  the  mental  air  of  the  home 
poisonous. 

The  Errors  in  a  Child's  Mentality 

If  all  these  things  are  set  in  order  and  the  case  is 
not  finished,  then  the  healer  may  discover  by  a  men- 
tal diagnosis  that  the  child  itself  has  some  special 
fear  or  false  practice  or  foolish  imagination,  that  is 
producing  the  untrue  condition. 

The  writer  once  was  able  to  heal  a  little  boy  with 
a  curious  breaking  out  in  the  skin,  which  had  for 
some  time  resisted  all  treatment,  through  seeing  a 
mental  picture,  while  treating  him.  The  inner  cause 
of  the  trouble  was  a  kind  of  auto-intoxicated  imag- 
ination, overwrought  through  reading  Jules  Verne's 
"The  Mysterious  Island." 

He  was  an  impressionable  boy  and  often  grew 
feverish  after  reading  and  restless  at  night  from 
exciting  dreams. 

The  Truth  brought  forward  the  Wise  One  in  him, 
the  fever  passed  and  his  skin  was  healed. 

A  child  was  once  thrown  into  a  fever  in  which  its 
delirium  disclosed  the  cause  to  be  a  conversation  at 
the  dinner-table  between  its  elders,  who  did  not 
notice  the  child's  attention,  upon  the  disasters  which 
some  one  had  prophesied  would  end  the  world. 

Sometimes  a  terror  or  dislike  seems  to  haunt  a 
child  from  its  earliest  existence,  and  the  folly  of 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  47 

teasing  it  or  scolding  and  shaming  it  has  but  aggra- 
vated the  error  and  made  it  more  secret,  until  some 
physical  condition  is  the  result. 

A  fierce  temper  or  selfishness,  unclean  appetite, 
cruelty,  an  abnormal  habit  may  indicate  obsession 
and  the  healing  may  be  a  "casting  out  of  demons." 
A  healer  delivered  a  little  boy  from  adenoids,  who 
had  not  seemed  peculiar,  except  in  the  matter  of  a 
bad  temper.  But  the  last  day  of  his  trouble,  he 
snarled  and  scratched  and  bit  like  a  beast  and  ter- 
rorized the  family.  But  that  night  his  body  was 
convulsed  with  struggles  within  him,  which  finally 
ceased,  leaving  him  pale  and  weak,  but  absolutely 
free  from  the  bad  temper  and  from  the  troublesome 
glands. 

The  doctor  who  had  examined  him  and  had  told 
his  parents  that  there  was  nothing  for  his  trouble 
but  an  operation,  gave  him  a  final  examination  and 
pronounced  him  completely  well.  When  told  what 
had  accomplished  the  healing,  he  answered,  "I  can- 
not understand  it,  I  only  know  that  he  had  adenoids 
and  that  now  he  has  not  a  vestige  of  them." 

The  lady  who  healed  the  boy  gave  him  Absolute 
Truth,  which  is  to  see  the  child  as  God's  own  being, 
never  having  been  sick,  not  so  now,  nor  ever  can  be, 
but  perfect,  whole,  pure  Spirit,  one  with  Christ 
throughout  Eternity. 

Early  Education  in  Health 

All  conversation  upon  disease,  disaster  and  death 
should  be  taboo  in  the  Truth-regulated  family. 

Instead  of  impressing  children  with  the  danger  in 
certain  things,  emphasis  should  be  placed  upon  the 
safety  of  leaving  certain  things  alone.  The  matter 
of  warning  may  seem  the  same,  but  the  attitude  of 


48  CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

mind  that  is  constructive,  an  attitude  the  result  of 
spiritual  culture,  will  carry  deliverance  in  itself. 
The  v^earisome  "don't"  should  be  eliminated  from 
family  authority  v^ith  all  expedition  possible. 

Giving  power  to  food  or  air,  climate,  exercise  or 
anything  material  should  cease,  these  all  being  sub- 
ject to  thought  and  only  secondary  or  reflective 
causes,  receiving  their  power  from  man's  belief. 

Most  mothers  know  the  virtue  of  withdrawing  the 
mind  from  hurts  by  engaging  the  attention  in  some- 
thing else.  The  same  should  be  done  as  to  the  heat 
or  the  cold,  as  to  internal  troubles,  outer  losses,  fears 
and  other  false  imaginations. 

When  attention  is  drawn  to  resemblances  to  other 
members  of  the  family,  ancestors  and  relatives,  im- 
mediate and  distant,  in  respect  to  some  weakness  or 
liability  to  disease,  there  should  be  a  reminding  that 
the  Soul  can  manifest  quite  new  results  from  even 
the  same  tendencies,  and  these  be  altogether  good. 

Much  can  be  done  by  the  parent  who  will  change 
former  fears  into  Absolute  Trust  in  the  All-Good. 

A  lady  had  always  been  agonizingly  fearful  of 
accidents  happening  to  her  little  son,  and,  when 
physical  training  was  recommended  for  his  develop- 
ment and  his  father  put  him  into  a  gymnasium,  her 
fears  for  him  know  no  bounds.  For  he  was  very 
venturesome  and  did  not  hesitate  to  climb  and  swing 
and  jump  in  most  reckless  fashion. 

Then  the  lady  became  a  Truth-student  and  she 
began  to  have  faith  for  her  boy,  Edwin,  that  he^was 
safe  in  the  divine  Omnipresence  and  no  harm  could 
come  to  him.  And  everything  changed,  both  within 
herself  and  with  Edwin.  He  ceased  to  fall  and  make 
mistakes,  and  she  saw  him  held  by  a  new  force  to 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  49 

the  bars,  ladders,  trapezes,  like  steel-filings  to  a 
magnet,  and  her  heart  and  mind  were  forever  at 
peace  as  to  his  welfare. 

When  you  see  children  in  what  appear  to  be  dan- 
gerous places,  where  no  one  can  reach  them,  or  in 
which  thoughtless  parents  are  neglecting  them,  re- 
member your  thought  can  hold  them  in  safety  like  a 
magnet,  or  give  them  wings  as  they  leap  and  tumble. 
A  baby-girl,  two  years  old,  fell  twenty-five  feet 
before  the  eyes  of  some  Truth-students  and  bounced 
to  her  feet  like  a  rubber  ball  with  not  a  scratch  or 
bruise  upon  her. 

Children  Are  Natural  Healers 

Nature  and  the  Spirit  are  very  close  to  each  other 
in  our  childhood,  and  thus  children  heal  very  easily 
by  the  power  of  the  Truth.  They  should  be  encour- 
aged to  take  up  cases  early  and  to  give  God  the  glory. 
Do  not  praise  the  child  as  though  it  did  the  work — 
its  healing-power  will  depart  with  such  vain-glory. 
If  unbelief  and  other  errors,  such  as  the  common  sins 
and  neglect  of  God's  gift,  can  be  kept  from  a  child, 
it  will  increase  in  its  healing-power  and  will  never 
lose  it. 

The  inner  senses  are  sometimes  very  open  with 
our  little  ones  and  they  can  aid  them,  and  be  a  proof 
that  their  powers  are  under  Law  and  not  mere 
happening. 

A  little  girl  once  proved  to  her  mother  her  con- 
scious power  of  healing,  by  speaking  the  word  for 
her  Aunt  Mary,  of  whom  she  was  the  namesake. 

Aunt  Mary  had  been  very  ill,  and  one  evening  little 
Mary's  mother,  who  had  been  giving  her  spiritual 


50  CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

treatment,  returned  home  in  a  worried  state  of  mind, 
so  that  little  Mary  asked, 

"What  is  the  matter,  mamma?'* 

"Your  Aunt  Mary  is  very  sick  with  a  fever  and 
has  not  slept  for  several  nights,"  she  replied,  "and 
mamma  cannot  seem  to  reach  her  with  the  treat- 
ments." 

"Let  me  give  her  a  treatment,"  said  the  little  four- 
year-old,  for  she  knew  the  virtue  of  absent  treat- 
ment. 

The  mother,  thinking  that  it  was  to  be  a  little 
game  with  Mary,  consented. 

But  as  the  little  one  sat  with  folded  hands  and 
closed  eyes,  the  mother  watched  her.  She  grew 
restless  and  frowned  and  presently  open  her  eyes 
and  said  to  her  mother, 

"Aunt  Mary  won't  close  her  eyes!" 

"Well,  dear!  you  tell  her  to  close  them." 

Then  little  Mary  again  began  her  absent  treatment 
and  after  the  lapse  of  some  minutes,  she  said  to  her 
mother, 

"Aunt  Mary  is  all  right,  she  is  asleep  and  she  will 
be  well." 

And  so  it  proved.  For  when  the  mother  went  to 
see  her  the  next  morning  the  lady  told  of  her  im- 
pression the  night  before  to  close  her  eyes,  and  she 
had  slept  the  night  through  and  in  the  morning  was 
perfectly  well. 

Teach  a  child  very  early  the  power  of  its  mind  in 
its  co-operation  with  God.  Give  it  the  way  to  pray 
prayers  of  thanksgiving,  unselfish  prayers,  prayers 
that  are  praise  to  God  and  loving  honor  to  Jesus 
Christ. 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  51 

A  Healing  Prayer 

Loving  Father!  Thou  dost  now  give  me  a  trust- 
ing heart,  a  wise  mind  and  the  Christ  peace ;  and  I 
thank  thee  heavenly  Father  for  the  truth  which 
now  makes  this  thy  little  One  perfectly  free  and 
strong  and  well. 

Thou  dost  enfold  thy  little  child  with  thy  protect- 
ing Presence,  and  no  harm  can  come  within  its  en- 
circling health,  life  and  happiness. 

I  praise  thee  heavenly  Father  that  I  know  my 
child  to  be  Thine,  pure  and  perfect  Spirit,  wise  with 
the  wisdom  of  God,  loving  with  the  heart  of  Christ 
and  inspired  by  thy  Holy  Spirit. 

We  thank  Thee,  healing  presence  of  Christ,  that 
thy  regenerating  life  now  is  renewing  and  rebuild- 
ing thy  child ;  and  now,  perfect  and  complete  health 
is  thoroughly  established  in  thy  little  One,  and  all 
is  well ! 

Peace!  Peace!  Peace  abides  forever  and  our 
Soul  is  filled  with  thanksgiving  and  praise  and  lov- 
ing gratitude  for  the  Truth,  Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord 
and  Savior  forever.     Amen. 


VI. 

Developing  Talent,  Character  and 
Spiritual  Powers 

Every  Child  Has  Talent 
NFOLDED  within  every  child  is  its  talent, 
or  gift  from  God,  to  be  uncovered,  culti- 
vated and  returned  to  its  source,  doubled, 
as  we  read  in  the  "Parable  of  the  Tal- 
ents," the  words  of  the  Lord,  ''Mine  own 
with  usury." 

It  was  from  this  parable  that  this  good  word, 
"talent,"  came,  showing  how  generally  accepted  has 
been  the  idea  that  our  talents  come  from  God,  that 
they  are  given  to  us  in  order  to  glorify  our  Source, 
and  that  they  are  given  to  every  child  of  God, — "to 
every  man  according  to  his  several  ability." 

It  would  seem  that  some  of  the  handicapped  mem- 
bers of  the  human  family  must  be  exceptions  to  this 
rule,  but  we  need  only  remember  a  few  such  unfortu- 
nates, like  Blind  Tom,  the  musical  genius,  and  Helen 
Keller,  that  brilliant  star  in  a  dark,  dark  night,  to 
realize  that  "with  man  it  is  impossible  but  with  God 
all  things  are  possible." 

Precocious  Children 
Each  child  is  a  precious  gem,  some  showing  their 
light  early,  others  still  remaining  in  the  rough. 
Those  whose  beauty  and  power  are  revealed  early, 
should  not  be  impressed  with  their  own  brilliancy. 
Whatever  beauty,  virtue  or  praiseworthiness  a  child 
may  show,  should  be  treated  as  the  true  manifesta- 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  53 

tion  of  a  child  of  Gk)d,  gifts  for  which  to  thank 
God  and  to  accept  in  all  true  modesty  and  meekness. 

By  ascribing  one's  talents  and  beauty  to  the  Giver 
of  all  good  gifts,  a  child  can  escape  foolish  vanity, 
false  self-consciousness,  conceit,  pride,  worldly  am- 
bition and  the  folly  of  seeking  name  and  fame  with 
their  attendant  heart-breakers,  envy,  jealously,  hat- 
red and  malice. 

Precocious  children  often  become  mediocre,  be- 
cause they  must  be  veiled  in  order  to  do  the  work 
which  their  heavenly  Father  has  sent  them  to  do. 
To  cultivate  worldly  ambition,  to  foster  pride,  to  hold 
the  goal  before  them  of  a  great  name,  worldly  power 
or  position,  these  may  seem  to  defeat  the  divine 
intentions,  therefore  something  is  allowed  to  fall 
like  a  veil,  curtain  or  screen  over  the  talents,  once 
so  brilliantly  visible. 

Therefore,  no  matter  how  your  children  excel, 
teach  them  that  God  has  planted  the  same  power  in 
all  their  human  brothers  and  sisters — ^that,  in  their 
case,  the  talents  are  nearer  the  surface,  and  they 
must  thank  God  and  be  humbly  glad ;  that  eventually 
every  one's  talent  will  be  revealed. 

Encouraging  Latent  Powers 

Let  us  be  evenly  minded  about  the  gifts  bestowed 
upon  children,  and  not  exalt  one  child's  talents  far 
above  another's.  One  may  be  gifted  as  a  house- 
keeper, another  as  a  musician,  yet  each  gift  held  in 
the  highest  can  be  the  foundation  of  a  most  success- 
ful career,  the  first  as  well  as  the  last.  The  house- 
keeper may  become  the  founder  of  great  institutions, 
the  boy  with  girl-tastes  for  colors  and  fabrics,  a 


54  CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

great  decorator  and  designer.  Let  no  gift  or  in- 
clination that  is  useful  be  despised. 

It  is  wise  never  to  laugh  at  the  attempts  of  little 
ones  to  express  themselves  as,  for  instance,  in  sing- 
ing. Many  a  lover  of  music  has  been  made  silent  as 
to  song,  all  the  life  long  because  some  one  scorned 
the  childish  efforts  to  sing.  They  might  not  have 
been  singers,  but  they  could  have  had  the  joy  of 
expressing  themselves. 

Natures  seem  slow  in  revealing  themselves  in 
some  our  our  dear  little  "commonplace'*  children; 
they  are  like  springs  running  underground  or  choked 
with  the  stones  of  an  uncultured  or  unrecognized 
spiritual  life. 

Training  in  the  ordinary  virtues  of  a  true  life 
may  be  quite  sufficient  to  remove  the  stones  and  let 
the  inspiration  well  up  and  overflow  to  the  world. 
Application,  continuity,  faithfulness,  honesty,  pur- 
ity, obedience,  sincerity,  self-control,  these  are  some 
of  the  virtues  which  should  be  cultivated  as  a  matter 
of  principle — ^the  thing  your  child  is  interested  in 
being  but  the  frame  upon  which  to  hang  these  im- 
portant "treasures  of  heaven." 

Study  your  child  that  you  may  not  force  it  into  a 
round  hole  when  it  is  square,  nor  a  square  hole  when 
it  is  round.  A  zealous  mother  had  two  sons  whom 
she  wished  to  become  finished  musicians.  She  forced 
the  oldest  son  to  practice  at  the  piano,  hour  after 
hour,  though  he  had  little  taste  for  it.  Arriving  at 
manhood,  he  seldom  touched  the  piano,  being  ar- 
dently fond  of  books.  The  second  son,  some  ten  years 
younger,  coming  to  the  age  for  piano  lessons,  re- 
ceived little  encouragement  from  his  tired  mother, 
who  had  resolved  never  again  to  urge  her  children 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  55 

to  practice.  She  did  not  notice  how  often  the  little 
fellow  hung  over  the  keys,  trying  to  gain  knowledge 
by  himself.  When  he  was  grown  he  was  an  enthusi- 
astic lover  of  music,  and  one  of  the  best  musical 
critics  in  New  York  City.  And  often  he  voiced  the 
regret  that  his  mother  had  not  obliged  him  to  take 
lessons  and  to  practice  as  she  had  forced  his  brother 
to  receive  and  to  do. 

Whatever  a  child  shows  keen  interest  in,  raise  to 
its  highest  interpretation,  then  place  that  as  his  goal 
and  let  him  aim  for  the  very  Spirit  of  it  and  he 
shall  arrive,  through  it,  at  God. 

Character  Culture 

In  watching  over  the  growth  of  character  in  our 
young  charges,  it  is  well  to  have  the  same  trust  in 
the  great  motifs  the  God  within  them,  as  one  has  in 
the  life  and  trueness-to-species  that  we  see  in  a 
young  tree  or  animal. 

A  guardian  overlooks  the  supreme  Guardian,  the 
Power  that  projected  the  youth  into  being.  Dearer 
to  God  is  this.  His  child,  than  it  could  possibly  be  to 
any  mortal. 

Therefore,  let  us  always  "reckon  with  our  Host" 
and  never  let  fear  or  unbelief,  discouragement  or 
despair  persuade  us  that  our  charge  is  ruining  his 
life  or  will  become  a  criminal  or  an  outcast.  We 
always  have  Prayer  as  our  first,  last  and  eternal 
resort,  and  whenever  one  is  tempted  to  break  down 
or  lose  heart,  there  should  be  a  fresh  hold  laid  upon 
Prayer,  the  Mighty  Word  of  God. 

As  a  rule,  the  best  trained  child  is  the  one  least 
trained,  that  is,  the  machinery  does  not  show,  be- 
cause the  mind  of  the  mentor  does  not  dwell  upon 


56  CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

the  fact  of  training,  nor  is  there  much  talk  about  it. 
Character  rises  up  of  its  own  accord.  Give  it 
channels  along  which  to  flow,  trellises  upon  which 
to  twine,  and  violence  and  wildness  will  largely  be 
eliminated. 

Many  times  a  mother  can  divert  a  passion  that, 
were  it  violently  thwarted,  might  prove  troublesome, 
by  giving  the  thoughts  or  feelings  something  else  to 
receive  their  intensity.  One  mother,  whose  little  boy 
would  give  way,  at  times,  to  paroxysms  of  rage, 
often  averted  one  by  recognizing  the  symptoms  of 
its  approach  and  taking  her  little  son  into  the  bath- 
room, would  turn  on  the  taps,  undress  him  quickly 
and  put  him  into  a  fine,  warm  bath,  which  he  loved. 
In  the  meanwhile  she  would  talk  to  him  silently  and 
aloud  of  "God's  good  boy."  None  but  the  best  of 
habits  can  form  under  the  watchful  eye  of  a  true 
and  devoted  mother. 

Misunderstanding  Children 

Give  children  always  the  benefit  of  the  doubt.  It 
is  better  to  make  many  mistakes  in  ascribing  good 
and  innocent  motives,  than  to  make  one,  in  ascrib- 
ing an  evil  intention  where  there  was  none. 

Often  a  child's  misdoings  are  taken  too  seriously 
when,  if  they  were  righteously  ignored,  or  over- 
looked, because  of  principle  C'Only  the  Good  is 
True;"  "The  Real  Self  can  do  no  wrong"),  the  acts 
would  never  be  repeated.  The  names  of  vices  need 
not  be  given  to  a  child  before  it  is  seven  years  old, 
but  it  can  learn  early  the  beauty  of  virtues. 

A  child  has  been  called  a  liar  when  he  was  simply 
imaginative  and  not  able  as  yet  to  distinguish  be- 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  67 

tween  his  subjective  experiences — his  day-dreams — 
and  the  facts  of  the  outer  world. 

Most  of  the  deliberate  falsifying  of  children  comes 
from  fear,  sometimes  causeless  fear,  like  the  shying 
of  colts  that  have  always  been  well-treated.  With 
such  natures,  their  statements  should  not  be  ques- 
tioned, especially  when  one  knows  the  facts ;  let  one 
proceed  from  one's  own  knowledge.  When  a  child 
is  found  telling  imaginary  things  as  facts,  it  should 
be  told  that  such  talk  is  called  "romancing"  and 
then  the  difference  between  its  external  experiences 
and  these  mental  events  should  be  explained. 

Love  should  inspire  all  the  methods  of  correction ; 
punishment  should  be  last  in  one's  thoughts.  Never- 
theless, a  parent  should  feel  free  even  to  administer 
such  to  children  who  prove  themselves  not  amenable 
to  Love. 

It  is  accepted  as  axiomatic  that  parents  should  be 
free  from  anger  when  correcting  their  children. 
When  parents  are  shocked  or  made  ashamed,  or  im- 
patient, or  angered,  these  feelings  arise  from  a 
belief  in  the  reality  of  evil,  which  blinds  them  and 
sometimes  causes  them  to  do  a  great  injustice  to  a 
child. 

A  lady  once  told  the  writer  that  a  shock  that  she 
received  when  little  more  than  a  baby  had  nearly 
ruined  her  life.  It  came  through  her  mother,  who 
really  loved  her  and  did  not  realize  what  she  was 
doing  to  the  tender  mind  of  the  little  girl.  The  child 
was  playing  in  a  neighbor's  house  and  on  the  table 
saw  a  pretty  gold  thimble  which  she  began  playing 
with  and  finally  put  into  her  pocket  and  soon  after 
went  home.  She  was  only  three  years  old  and  had 
never  heard  of  such  a  thing  as  "stealing." 


58  CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

The  neighbor  saw  the  act  and  went  at  once  to  the 
little  one's  mother,  with  an  awful  tale  of  the  child 
being  a  thief. 

The  mother  was  shocked,  her  pride  wounded  and 
in  awful  tones  she  denounced  the  child,  calling  it  a 
thief,  weeping  over  her,  whipping  her,  sending  her 
back  with  the  thimble,  searing  her  little  brain  with 
tales  of  the  terrible  fate  that  awaited  her.  The 
child  did  not  know  what  it  was  all  about,  but  was  so 
terrorized  that  for  years  she  suffered  the  effects  of 
it,  and  not  until  she  came  to  the  Truth,  when  nearly 
fifty,  was  she  able  to  forgive  her  mother. 

Silent  Communion  With  The  True  Self 

The  best  work  in  bringing  forth  the  better  self 
is  done  in  the  silent  communion.  The  prayers  that 
are  breathed  when  the  little  one's  human  thinking 
and  feeling  are  still  in  sleep  are  most  effectual.  The 
prayers  of  thanksgiving  for  the  power  and  presence 
of  the  True  Self  and  its  mastery  over  the  self  that 
appears  to  need  spiritual  help.  A  temper  is  best 
reached  this  way. 

A  small  girl  with  an  uncontrollable  temper  was 
healed  by  the  family  never  speaking  of  it  but  silently 
blessing  her  and  consciously  co-operating  with  her 
higher  self.  Her  healing  came  suddenly  when  one 
day,  as  she  lay  on  the  floor  kicking  and  screaming, 
a  sobering  came  to  her  as  she  realized  she  was  rather 
a  big  girl  to  be  doing  such  things.  She  sat  up  and 
in  quietness  she  arose  and  shame-facedly  went  out 
of  the  room.  She  never  gave  way  to  such  anger 
again. 

Whenever  a  parent  is  puzzled,  there  should  be  a 
constant  communion  with  the  Spirit  until  wise  meth- 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  59 

ods  and  skillful  devices  come  ix)  one's  aid.  Many  are 
the  happy  ways  that  come  to  parents  who  seek  the 
guidance  of  the  Higher  Intelligence,  such  for  in- 
stance as  providing  pets  for  the  little  ones.  They 
often  learn  tenderness,  consideration  and  thought- 
fulness  through  the  care  of  pets.  Interest  in  their 
habits,  ways  and  their  homes,  brings  a  respect  for 
their  lives  and  desire  to  preserve  them. 

Spiritual  Unfoldment 

Preaching  to  the  young  should  be  carefully 
avoided.  Moralizing,  "oughts,"  "musts"  and  "don'ts" 
should  be  banished  from  our  converse  with  them, 
ever  remembering  that  they  have  an  innate  sense  of 
justice  and  right,  that  faith  in  them  will  enliven 
and  bring  forth. 

Casual  teaching  of  the  deep  things  of  life,  indirect 
presentation  of  religion,  through  Bible-stories  and 
true-life  stories  are  best.  Children  are  eager  listen- 
ers to  spiritual  talk  between  their  elders,  especially 
if  they  themselves  are  not  noticed. 

Compulsory  religious  training  is  often  worse  than 
ineffectual,  for  it  even  causes  a  great  dislike  for 
what  should  be  one's  greatest  love. 

An  early  reverence  for  Jesus  Christ  has  deepened 
in  the  hearts  of  children  who  grow  familiar  with 
the  stories  of  his  life.  Many  a  child  thinks  fondly 
of  its  own  arrival  at  the  age  of  twelve  through 
drawing  the  likeness  between  itself  and  Jesus  at  that 
age. 

Many  children  are  very  open  as  to  their  inner 
senses  and  spiritual  powers,  and  if  they  are  allowed 
to  tell  what  they  see  and  hear  and  of  what  they  can 
do,  without  any  expression  on  our  part  of  skepticism. 


60  CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

derision  or  other  crushing  resistance,  they  will 
retain  much  that  will  be  valuable  to  them  in  after 
life. 

It  is  perpetual  and  changeless  love  and  apprecia- 
tion on  our  part,  of  the  finest  and  highest  in  our 
children,  that  furnishes  the  means  for  the  truest 
unfoldment  of  their  character.  It  is  the  warmth 
that  the  mother-bird  supplies  to  her  eggs.  Let  us 
keep  the  glow  steady  for  our  nestlings  and  always 
remember  that  God  does  the  rest 


VII. 
Obedience  and  Freedom  in  Children 

Inspired  Management 
ARENTS  who  are  spiritually  minded 
should  ever  remember  that  in  all  the  care, 
thought  and  training  of  their  children, 
they  are  developing  their  own  Christ- 
consciousness  to  express  itself  in  ever 
truer  forms  and  language.  Thus  can  "patience  have 
her  perfect  work."  No  time  is  lost,  no  efforts  wasted 
that  are  spent  in  ^'bringing  up  a  child  in  the  way  it 
should  go." 

The  belated  training  of  our  own  unregenerate 
nature -may  be  mirrored  in  our  children,  so  that 
while  we  are  carefully  teaching  them  the  lessons  of 
self-control  we  ourselves  may  well  receive  instruc- 
tion. Thus  we  may  see,  repeated  in  our  child,  that 
obstinacy  and  perversity  that  has  hampered  our  own 
life,  and  while  we  turn  its  strength  into  a  fine  deter- 
mination and  rock-principle  in  our  child's  nature, 
we  can  silently  pray  God  that  the  same  blessing  be 
upon  ourselves.  What  a  joy  for  a  parent  to  find  that 
he  is  not  obliged  to  meet  his  boy's  obstinacy  with 
his  own,  two  wills  that  sometimes  in  their  clash  are 
like  the  "irresistible  force  that  meets  an  immovable 
object" — in  that  no  one  knows  just  what  will  be  the 
outcome. 

Instead  of  the  violence  of  the  old  way,  we  have  the 
skill  and  silent  reasoning  of  the  new  way,  that  does 
not  crush  nor  break  the  child's  will  but  turns  its 
mighty  force  into  the  channels  of  divinest  usefulness. 


62  CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

Obstinacy  Overcome  by  Truth 

As  an  illustration  of  the  new  method  that  wins, 
the  following  is  given:  A  lady  who  had  been  a 
chronic  victim  of  nervous  prostration,  and  because 
of  it  had  been  obliged  to  give  the  training  of  her 
little  girl  into  the  hands  of  nurses,  had  finally  re- 
ceived her  healing  through  the  power  of  Truth.  In 
consequence,  she  began  to  undertake  the  control  of 
her  little  daughter,  who  had  become  quite  "spoiled" 
under  the  crude  discipline  of  the  servants.  She  was 
naturally  a  sweet  child  but  with  very  decided  opin- 
ions of  what  she  liked  or  disliked. 

One  day  she  was  dressed  in  her  new  spring  clothes, 
all  daintily  white,  but  when  the  nurse  wished  to  put 
on  her  new  spring  hat,  she  would  not  have  it.  Her 
winter  hood  had  become  a  great  favorite  and  she 
had  no  idea  of  discarding  it.  No  reasoning,  no 
threats  could  move  her.  Her  sharp  crying  filled  the 
house.  In  former  days  she  would  have  been  quickly 
indulged,  or  dragged  from  the  house  because  of  her 
mother's  nerves. 

But  the  mother  had  her  brought  to  her,  and  told 
her  to  sit  down  on  a  hassock  at  her  mother's  feet. 
Her  cries  had  not  ceased,  but  all  silently  the  mother 
spoke  to  the  Divine  Reason  in  her : 

"Child  of  God,  you  love  to  do  that  which  is  rea- 
sonable and  right.  You  are  one  with  harmony  and 
truth  and  know  the  winning  way  of  agreement." 

And  there  came  a  realization  to  the  mother  of  the 
really  sweet  nature  of  her  child  and  her  "winning 
ways,"  which  we  know  are  never  ways  of  inharmony 
or  violence.  She  had  not  been  speaking  long  to  the 
child's  soul,  when  the  little  one  stopped  crying  and 
rising  from  her  seat,   slipped  her  hand   into  her 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  63 

mother's,  saying,  "I  will  be  good,  mamma !"  and  she 
was  changed  from  that  day. 

"Give  It  to  God" 
Instead  of  giving  up  in  despair  over  a  child's  un- 
ruly spirit,  turn  to  prayer  and  pour  all  your  strong 
feeling  into  the  prayer  of  "believing  you  have  re- 
ceived." This  is  what  a  grandmother  did  for  the 
little  three-year-old  who  had  nearly  worn  her  mother 
out  with  her  fiery  and  prolonged  rages  of  temper. 
Many  were  the  times  that  Grandmother  spoke  to 
little  Virginia's  soul  to  manifest  itself,  and  one 
morning  the  little  girl  filled  her  mother  and  grand- 
mother with  awe,  as  she  lifted  up  her  little  face  to 
her  grandmother,  while  tears  welled  up  in  her  eyes, 
and  said, 

"Virginia,  bad  temper!    Give  it  to  God!" 
No  one  had  said  anything  aloud  to  her  about  treat- 
ment or  her  disposition.     The  words  were  wholly 
original.    What  a  proof  of  the  way  the  Soul  can  be 
reached  by  the  Silent  Word. 

The  Common  View  of  Obedience 

Few  parents  know  the  real  reason  for  exacting 
obedience  of  a  child.  They  think  of  it  generally  in 
connection  with  themselves  and  their  own  con- 
venience; that  a  child  should  respect  its  parents' 
commands  and  obey  "because  I  say  so." 

Many  times  the  orders  are  unreasonable  or 
thoughtless.  The  child  begins  to  reason.  An  arbi- 
trary parent  sees  the  child's  answer  as  an  imperti- 
nence, or  a  sign  of  threatening  insubordination. 
Then  a  demand  is  made  for  blind  obedience  which  is 
given  sullenly  or  with  reproachful  looks,  that  raise 
a  sad  barrier  between  two  who  should  be  one. 


64  CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

Another  parent  may  realize  that  the  order  was 
thoughtless  and  that  it  is  not  important  to  fulfill. 
And  he  is  indifferent  to  the  child's  disobedience, 
neither  withdrawing  the  command  nor  giving  ex- 
planation of  his  own  indifference,  with  the  result 
of  a  habit  of  laxity  being  formed  by  the  child,  that 
afterwards  may  express  as  a  weak  will. 

Obedience,  a  Treasure  Through  Life 

The  act  of  obedience  is  for  the  child's  sake,  the 
parents'  comfort  or  pleasure  being  secondary.  While 
quite  young,  stories  can  be  told  a  child  about  its  body 
and  how  to  make  it  a  good  instrument  through  the 
practice  of  obedience.  It  should  be  taught  of  the 
record  which  the  body  keeps  of  every  thought,  and 
that  if  it  registers  a  false  thought,  just  once  too 
often,  disaster  may  result.  The  ears  that  will  not 
listen  finally  grow  deaf.  Willfulness  and  disobedi- 
ence are  at  the  root  of  many  a  case  of  deafness.* 

Show  them  how  their  fingers  obey  their  every 
silent  command  and  give  them  a  story  of  skill, 
through  hands  that  are  swift  to  obey  their  owner, 
like  David's  skill  in  throwing  the  stone  out  of  his 
sling. 

Compare  the  body  and  the  mind  to  a  fine  horse 
that  obeys  its  master  so  that  it  will  go  up  to  the 
edge  of  a  precipice,  and  stop  instantly  at  the  com- 
mand of  its  rider. 

But  more  than  anything  else  the  whole  being 
should  be  trained  to  listen  to  "the  still  small  voice" 
within,  and  so  be  guided  throughout  one's  life  by 


*One  should  never  suggest  to  a  child  that  a  disease  is 
coming  to  it  or  threaten  it  with  death  or  "bugaboos"  or  any- 
thing else  that  causes  fear. 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  65 

the  voice  of  God.  This  is  the  principal  reason  that 
a  child  should  grow  accustomed  to  obedience  and  to 
have  it  inculcated  by  love  and  not  fear. 

The  obedience  that  comes  from  love  may  seem 
natural  to  a  child,  so  that  he  needs  no  teaching.  But 
if  there  is  any  one  to  whom  he  does  not  respond 
quickly,  then  the  lessons  can  be  given  him  to  obey 
from  principle  or  because  of  Truth  or  Jesus  Christ 
or  God. 

Freedom  in  Applying  the  Law 

If  one  seems  to  have  a  natural  rebel  in  the  family 
or  a  "a  black  sheep,"  such  is  an  occasion  for  the 
exercise  of  "Love  that  thinketh  no  evil,"  the  main- 
taining of  trust  in  the  best,  it  matters  not  what  ap- 
pears. Such  a  child  may  require  close  study  to  find 
out  the  meaning  of  his  life,  not  to  treat  it  with  weak- 
ness nor  sentiment  but  with  insight  and  under- 
standing. 

Many  a  child  puts  itself  under  the  Law  by  its  dis- 
obedience and  rebellion,  and  fairly  invites  the  exer- 
cise of  the  Law  of  Cause  and  Effect.  In  such  a  case 
it  is  "spare  the  rod  and  spoil  the  child."  But  to 
hurt  the  body  is  the  crudest  use  of  the  Law,  and  to 
a  child  who  is  being  taught  not  to  feel  pain,  a  mere 
farce  and  ineffectual. 

There  are  sequences  which  are  very  appropriate 
results  of  certain  forms  of  disobedience  or  wrong- 
doing, that  will  come  to  the  mind  that  is  not  too 
hasty  about  inflicting  punishment.  The  child  that 
learns  without  threats,  that  certain  disagreeable  re- 
sults will  follow  untrue  actions  or  neglectfulness,  will 
be  saved  much  in  his  maturer  years. 


66  CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

The  Freedom  That  Makes  Others  Free 

Sometimes  obedience  does  not  seem  consistent 
with  freedom  and  parents  who,  themselves,  were 
brought  up  in  a  very  strict  way  make  the  mistake  of 
confounding  obedience  with  bondage.  Then  there  is 
apt  to  follow  an  indulgence  with  their  children,  that 
they  deem  to  be  freedom,  but  which  interferes  with 
the  freedom  of  their  neighbors. 

This  is  one  of  the  truths  that  can  be  profitably 
pressed  upon  us  all,  that  nothing  is  true  freedom  to 
us  which  takes  away  the  freedom  of  our  neighbors. 
By  their  fruits  do  we  know  all  that  is  worth  claim- 
ing and  adopting :  the  joy  that  brings  joy  to  others, 
the  prosperity  that  prospers  others,  the  love  that 
makes  others  loving,  the  freedom  that  makes  others 
free. 

As  Childhood  Merges  Into  Maturity 

A  companion  ever  to  your  children,  they  will  de- 
light to  tell  you  all  their  ambitions,  trials,  adven- 
tures, even  their  mishaps  and  humiliations,  especially 
as  you  refrain  from  expressions  of  fear,  criticism 
and  condemnation. 

Good  citizenship  can  often  be  a  subject  for  dis- 
cussion especially  in  connection  with  the  Christ,  into 
whose  hands  all  government  shall  yet  pass.  Integ- 
rity, equality,  honesty,  justice,  righteousness  and 
many  other  virtues  of  the  true  life  can  be  illustrated 
by  stories  of  great  men  and  women. 

Good  husbands  and  good  wives,  fathers  and  moth- 
ers can  be  considered  with  our  youths  and  maidens 
if  conversations  on  these  themes  can  be  kept  free 
from  "barking  at  the  bad,"  odious  comparisons  and 
innuendoes. 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  67 

As  high  resolve  and  noble  ideals  begin  to  rise 
upon  the  horizons  of  those  whose  feet  stand  on  the 
borders  between  childhood  and  the  adventure  into 
ripening  life,  then  can  come  the  time  of  decision  for 
those  who  would  live  the  full  life  of  the  Christ  here 
upon  the  earth.  Then  can  be  placed  before  them  the 
choice  between  generation  and  regeneration,  through 
knowing  the  whole  truth  from  the  pure  lips  of 
fathers  and  mothers  who  can  say  with  the  Christ, 
"I  have  called  you  friends  for  all  things  that  I  have 
heard  of  my  Father  I  have  make  known  unto  you." 


VIII. 

Religious  Education 

PIRITUAL  upbringing  must  include  a 
religious  education  and  an  ethical  train- 
ing. These  three  will  equip  a  child  with 
a  strong  armor  with  which  to  meet  those 
suggestions,  which  are  man's  undoing — 
the  secret  thoughts  of  his  own  carnal  nature — "a 
man's  foes  shall  be  those  of  his  own  household." 

Many  parents  depend  upon  a  child's  reading  or 
schooling  or  the  reciting  of  the  Ten  Commandments, 
for  its  ethical  training.  But  reason  should  have  its 
part  and  sympathy.  If  a  boy  is  taught  honor  as  the 
way  of  a  really  successful  life;  kindness  as  a  token 
of  real  strength ;  and  his  natural  roughness,  bravado, 
cruelty  and  derision  met  with  silent  instruction,  so 
that  the  reality  of  these,  straightforwardness,  fear- 
lessness, power  and  intelligence  may  be  accentuated 
and  drawn  forth,  then  his  basis  for  ethical  living  can 
be  well  founded. 

But  morality  is  not  enough  for  a  foundation  of  a 
pure  life.  There  must  be  a  real  religion,  which  is  a 
method  of  union  with  God,  presented  to  a  child.  The 
members  of  the  root-races,  that  are  the  oldest  and 
the  most  orderly  in  their  inner  life,  were  always 
taught  to  recite  Scripture  in  their  youth. 

This  is  the  time  to  lay  up  such  treasures.  But 
watch,  good  parent !  that  the  learning  be  not  made  a 
task  but  a  joy,  which  may  include  a  regular  time  for 
the  study,  if  only  fifteen  minutes  a  day,  an  appropri- 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  69 

ate  prize  to  be  won,  a  reciting  with  them,  and  other 
devices,  such  as  finding  texts  in  the  Bible  beginning 
with  A,  B,  C,  etc.  One  of  the  first  prizes  can  be  a 
New  Testament  of  one's  own — a  red-letter  one,  in 
which  Jesus'  sayings  are  given  in  red  type. 

Certain  long  passages  can  become  a  daily  recital 
in  concert,  mother  and  children  together,  such  as  the 
Twenty-third  Psalm,  the  Ninety-first  Psalm  and  the 
Ten  Commandments  in  Exodus  20:1-17;  not  too 
many  verses  should  be  learned  at  a  time. 

The  stories,  told  the  wee  ones,  from  the  Bible 
should  be  about  the  children  in  it.  A  good  way  is  to 
tell  them  the  substance  of  it  in  your  own  language, 
with  certain  graphical  additions,  which  shall  be  true 
to  the  facts  of  the  scenes,  the  customs  and  dress  of 
the  times  described.  Then  read  the  literal  story. 
Ask  the  children  themselves  sometimes  to  tell  it,  or 
to  help  in  the  telling. 

For  a  beginning,  the  following  can  be  used,  and 
though  there  be  only  one  story  a  week — perhaps  as  a 
sweet  part  of  Sunday, — ^they  will  be  getting  some 
very  good  knowledge  of  the  letter  of  the  Bible : 

1  David  and  Goliath,    1  Samuel,  chapters  16  and 

17. 

2  Little  Samuel  and  the  Lord's  Call.     1  Samuel, 

chapter  3. 

3  Baby  Moses  and  Sister  Miriam.    Exodus  2 :1-10. 

4  Joseph,  the  Dreamer.    Genesis,  chapter  37. 

5  Joseph,  the  Prisoner.    Genesis  39 :20  to  40 :23. 

6  Joseph  Honored.    Genesis,  chapter  41. 

7  The  Widow's  Son,  that  Elijah  raised.    1  Kings, 

chapter  17. 

8  The  Shunnamite's  Son.    2  Kings  4 :8-37. 


70  CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

9  Naaman  and  the  little  Maid.    2  Kings  5:1-14. 

10  Jesus'  Birth.     Luke  1:26-38,  and  Luke  2:1-20. 

11  Jesics  Twelve  Years  old.    Luke  2:40-52. 

12  Jairus'  Daughter.    Mark  5 :21-43. 

13  Jesus  Blessing  Children.     Matthew  18:1-6,  10- 

14,  and  Mark  10:13-16. 

After  these  stories,  as  a  primary  teaching,  can 
come  other  stories  from  the  Bible,  the  next  selections 
also  being  interesting.* 

The  following  is  a  tentative  list  of  subjects  to  read 
and  enlarge  upon  with  stories: 

1  The  Creation.    Genesis,  chapter  1.   (This  will  be 

good  to  learn.) 

2  The  First  Spiritual  Man  and  Woman.    Genesis, 

chapters  2  and  3. 

3  The  Flood.    Genesis,  chapters  6,  7  and  8. 

4  Jacob's  Dream.    Genesis,  chapter  28. 

5  Jacob's  Blessing.    Genesis  32 : 24-32. 

6  Joseph  and  his  Brothers.    Genesis,  chapters  42, 

43,  44  and  45. 

7  The  Israelites'  Journey  out  of  Egypt.    Exodus, 

chapters  1  to  20,  32  to  35. 

8  Further   History    of    the    Israelites'    Journey. 

Leviticus  9:22-24;   10:1-11;   16:1-22;  Num- 
bers, chapters  11  to  17,  20  to  25. 

9  The  Story  of  Samson.    Judges,  chapters  13  to 

16. 

10  The  Story  of  Ruth.    The  book  of  Ruth. 

11  Elijah,  the  great  Prophet.     1  Kings,  chapters 


*A/i 


Much  help  as  to  the  real  significance  of  the  Old  Testament 
can  be  found  in  Mrs.  Militz'  articles,  New  Light  on  the  Bible, 
in  The  Master  Mind,  Vols.  VII,  VIII  and  IX. 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  71 

17,  18,  19,  21  and  2  Kings,  chapters  1  and 
2:1-18. 

12  Elisha,  the  healing  Prophet.    2  Kings  2:19-22, 

and  3:11-20  and  chapters  4  to  7. 

13  David.    1  Samuel,  chapters  16  to  20,  24  to  26; 

2  Samuel  selections  to  1  Kings,  chapters  1 
and  2. 

14  Solomon.    1  Kings,  chapters  2,  3,  4,  5,  9,  10  and 

11. 

15  Story  of  Esther.    The  book  of  Esther. 

16  The  Trials  and  Victory  of  Job.    Job,  chapters  1, 

2,  32,  33  and  42. 

17  Daniel.    The  whole  book  of  Daniel. 

18  Jonah.    The  book  of  Jonah. 

19  Selections  from  Isaiah,  Hosea,  Joel,  Zechariah 

and  Malachi. 

20  The  Four  Gospels. 

21  The  Book  of  Acts. 

22  Selections  from  Romans,  1  Corinthians,  Ephe- 

sians,  Philippians  and  1  John. 

If  it  is  not  possible  to  send  your  children  to  a  Sun- 
day School  where  the  true  message  is  taught,  you 
should  have  one  in  your  own  home,  to  which  can  be 
added  the  neighbors'  children  whose  parents  are  in 
sympathy. 

A  plan  for  conducting  Sunday  School  can  be  found 
in  The  Master  Mind,  Vol.  I,  page  166  (or  the  Feb- 
ruary 1912  issue) . 

The  following  questions  and  answers  have  been 
found  helpful  in  giving  a  child  the  epitome  of  the 
faith  and  the  truth  that  saves: 


72  CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

Statements  of  Truth 

1  What  is  God? 

God  is  the  All-Good. 

2  What  is  the  All-Good? 

The  All-Good  is  Life,  Love,  Truth,  Mind,  Spirit, 
Health  and  Strength. 

3  Where  is  God? 

God  is  here,  there  and  everjrwhere. 

4  Who  am  I? 

I  am  a  child  of  God ;  I  am  the  idea  of  God ;  I  am 
the  image  and  likeness  of  God. 

5  Who  created  me? 
God. 

6  What  am  I  created  for? 

I  am  created  to  manifest  the  All-Good. 

7  What  must  I  then  manifest? 

I  must  manifest  Life,  Love,  Truth,  Health  and 
Strength. 

8  What  is  my  work? 

My  work  is  to  do  the  Will  of  God. 

9  Where  do  I  live? 
I  live  in  God. 

10  What  is  the  creation  of  God? 

The  Christ  in  me  is  the  creation  of  God. 

11  What  is  the  Christ? 

The  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God.    Christ  is  the  True 
Spiritual  Self. 

12  Was  Jesus  the  only  Christ? 

No,  the  Christ  is  in  each  one  of  us. 

13  Was  Christ  crucified? 
No,  Jesus,  the  flesh,  was. 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  73 

14  What  does  crucifying  mean? 
Crucifying  means  putting  away  the  old  self. 

"Fe  have  put  off  the  old  man  with  his  deeds 
and  have  put  on  the  new  man  which  is  renewed 
in  knowledge  after  the  image  of  Him,  that  cre- 
ated him."— Col  3 :9-10. 

15  What  is  repentance? 
Repentance  is  changing  the  mind. 

16  How  do  I  change  my  mind? 

I  change  from  believing  in  evil  to  believing  in 
what  is  true  and  good. 

17  What  is  forgiveness? 

Forgiveness  is  giving  good  for  evil,  and  giving 
truth  for  error. 

18  What  is  salvation? 

Salvation  is  being  saved,  made  free. 

19  What  am  I  saved  from? 

I  am  saved  from  sickness  and  from  sin;  from 
pain  and  death,  misery,  want  and  every  evil. 

20  What  is  it  that  saves  me? 
The  Truth  saves  me. 

"Ye  shall  know  the  truth  and  the  truth  shall 
make  you  free." — John  8 :32. 

21  What  is  heaven? 

Heaven  is  a  perfect  state  of  happiness. 

22  Where  is  heaven? 
Heaven  is  here. 

''The  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you." 

23  Must  I  die  to  go  to  heaven? 

No,  dying  is  no  part  of  my  life,  and  I  am  in 
heaven  now. 

24  What  is  the  first  commandment? 


74  CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

''Thou  shall  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy 
heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy 
mind,  and  with  all  thy  strength." — Mark 
12:30. 

25  Is  there  any  other  commandment? 

There  is  another  which  is  really  the  same — 

''Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself." — 
Mark  12:31. 

26  Why  is  it  just  the  same? 

It  is  just  the  same  because  it  is  God  in  my  neigh- 
bor that. I  love ;  for  there  is  no  one  else  to  love, 
since  God  is  all  there  really  is. 

27  What  is  consecration? 

Consecration  is  giving  myself  to  God.  It  is  God 
who  wills  and  works  through  me  to  will  and 
to  do  whatever  ought  to  be  done  by  me. 

28  How  do  I  give  my  hands  and  feet  to  God? 
By  doing  good  and  loving  deeds. 

29  How  do  I  give  my  lips  to  God? 

I  give  my  lips  to  God  by  speaking  only  pure  and 
kind  words. 

30  How  do  I  give  my  heart  and  mind  to  God? 

By  thinking  and  wishing  true  and  loving 
thoughts  for  all. 
^  "Let  the  words  of  my  mouth  and  the  medita- 
tions of  my  heart  he  acceptable  in  thy  sight,  0 
Lord,  my  strength  and  my  redeemer." — Psalms 
19:14. 

It  is  a  good  observance,  to  have  a  few  seconds  of 
silence  before  eating — a  moment  of  praise  and  thanks 
to  God  and  declaration  as  to  the  true  food.    The  little 


CHILD  UNFOLDMENT  75 

ones  can  say  the  words  aloud,  while  the  older  mem- 
bers of  the  family  repeat  them  silently. 

The  following  verses  from  Psalms  and  the  words 
of  Jesus  constitute  a  good  "Grace  before  Meals" : 

''Bless  the  Lord,  0  my  soul:  and  all  that  is  within 
me  bless  his  holy  name," — Psalm  103:1. 

''My  meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me  and 
to  finish  his  work" — -John  4 :34. 

The  morning  and  evening  prayer,  that  even  the 
tiniest  one  can  lisp  at  his  mother^s  knee,  is  The  Lord's 
Prayer,  which  can  be  prayed  affirmatively  instead  of 
as  a  petition,  for  the  original  Greek  allows  of  such  a 
translation : 

Our  Father  who  art  in  heaven,  hallowed  is  thy 
name.  Thy  kingdom  is  come,  thy  will  is  done  on 
earth  as  it  is  in  heaven. 

Thou  dost  give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread.  Thou 
dost  forgive  us  our  trespasses,  as  we  forgive  those 
who  trespass  against  us.  Thou  dost  lead  us,  not  into 
temptation  but  thou  dost  deliver  us  from  evil. 

For  thine  is  the  kingdom  and  the  power  and  the 
glory  forever.    Amen. 

For  a  self-healing  treatment  and  also  a  treatment 
for  others,  the  verses  below  are  good,  either  recited 
with  eyes  closed,  or  sung  to  the  tune  of  Hursley  L.  M. 

Prayer 

God  is  my  help  in  every  need, 
God  does  my  every  hunger  feed, 
God  walks  beside  me,  guides  my  way 
Through  every  moment  of  this  day. 


76  CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 

I  now  am  wise,  I  now  am  true, 
Patient,  kind  and  loving  too ; 
All  things  I  am,  can  do  and  be, 
Through  Christ  the  truth,  that  is  in  me. 

God  is  my  health,  I  can't  be  sick ; 
God  is  my  strength,  unfailing,  quick, 
God  is  my  all,  I  know  no  fear. 
Since  God  and  Love  and  Truth  are  here. 

Keep  your  heart  and  mind,  0  Mother  in  Israel, 
close  to  the  great  Mother-Heart  of  us  all,  and  many 
shall  be  the  original  and  inspired  directions  and 
devices,  that  God  can  drop  into  your  consciousness, 
as  you  guide  His  child  back  to  its  Christ  and  its  God. 


IX. 

Regeneration 

NE  closing  word  must  I  speak  for  our 
youths  and  maidens,  who  have  come  to 
this  earth  on  their  closing  visit,  to  finish 
the  work  which  their  Father  has  given 
them  to  do. 

These  often  disclose  their  appreciation  of  their 
commission  by  an  unusual  attitude  towards  the  pleas- 
ures and  business  of  the  world.  Though  normal, 
they  seem  to  have  little  use  for  what  pleases  their 
companions,  and  often  show  no  special  ambition 
towards  business  or  marriage.  A  wise  parent  will 
not  press  these  upon  such  young  people,  but  watch 
over  them  with  heavenly  vigilance. 

For  the  young  boy  must  be  kept  from  those  temp- 
tations, that  often  assail  youths  who  have  the  femi- 
nine unfolded  in  their  nature  as  well  as  the  mascu- 
line. Like  the  angels  who  visited  Lot  in  wicked 
Sodom,  they  may  be  tested  by  unregenerate  natures, 
and  God's  truth  must  enfold  them  until,  like  Jacob, 
the  Angel  of  His  Presence  makes  them  strong  in 
their  purity  and  wise  in  their  freedom.  For  they 
are  the  new  Knights  of  the  Holy  Grail,  the  Sir 
Galahads,  of  whom  it  must  be  said, 

"Their  strength  is  the  strength  of  ten. 
Because  their  hearts  are  pure." 

Likewise  the  maiden  who  feels  that  marriage  has 
no  attraction  for  her,  except  it  be  for  the  children 

77 


l'^'}  !o2  •^' o^M    CHILD  UNFOLDMENT 


that  might  then  come  to  her  arms.  She  should  not 
be  pressed  into  any  loveless  union  for  the  sake  of  a 
home  and  offspring,  or  simply  because  marriage  is 
looked  upon  as  the  only  true  destiny  for  a  woman. 
Such  children  should  be  equipped  early  for  the 
ministry,  and  everything  that  education,  art,  travel 
and  high  association  can  give  them  should  be  theirs, 
that  they  may  be  true  priests  and  ministers  of  the 
Christ,  eminently  fitted  to  carry  the  good  news  to  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth. 

A  word  to  the  Wise  is  sufficient. 

It  is  said. 


RECEIVE   THE   LITTLE   ONES 

And  safe  indoors,  round  mother  gathered ; 

Sweet  tales  are  told  and  prayers  are  said ; 
Then  little  heads  caress  the  pillows — 

And  angels  guard  each  little  bed. 

Dear  people,  ye,  whose  homes  are  lonely ; 
Whose  hearts  and  lives  are  lonely,  too, 
Oh,  do  not  think  that  no  one  wants  you  — 
Some  little  child  has  need  of  you. 
— Johanna  Duck, 

in  Child-Welfare  Magazine, 


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